Pattern-based reasoning for rapid redesign: a proactive approach

This paper describes our continued effort in the development of the model-based rapid redesign methodology. In the prior work (Chen et al. in ASME J Mech Des 129:283–294, 2007), we have explored and applied various decomposition patterns for rapid redesign to effectively control design change propagation. Since the decomposition process for redesign is not activated until the presence of a redesign request, this prior work represents a reactive approach where a new set of decomposition patterns should be generated in accordance with a different redesign request input. As an extension to our redesign methodology, this paper presents a proactive approach to complement the existing methodology for rapid redesign. In this approach, the decomposition patterns capturing generic decomposed structures of a given design model are created in advance and stored in a design library before any redesign request emerges. These pre-generated patterns are able to address any upcoming redesign request without further decomposition procedures in redesign. This proactive approach is developed in a new framework of pattern-based reasoning that is built on the mechanism “case → pattern → strategy.” Two methodological components, Proactive Redesign Decomposition and Redesign Condition Analysis, are introduced along with a redesign application to an existing air-cooled condenser for illustration. This redesign approach is particularly useful when it requires only minor yet frequent modifications for the existing design.