The history and science of the artificial

This is the concluding chapter from a new book, The Evolution of Designs; Biological Analogy in Architecture and the Applied Arts, recently published by Cambridge University Press©. The book reviews the history of analogies made between the design of artefacts and the ‘design’ of organisms, since the beginnings of biology as a scientific subject around 1800. The analogies are shown to be conducive to a functionalist fallacy — the idea that the utilitarian functions of artefacts serve to define their forms in a deterministic way — and conducive to a historicist fallacy — that the ‘evolution’ of artefacts follows some necessary historical sequence of development, which is not under the control of men. The book ends by asking ‘What remains that is useful and true, in biological analogies with design?’     

Structural design in the eighteenth century: James Essex and the roof of Lincoln Cathedral Chapter House

The design of novel structural forms can happen either by a process of trial and error supported by testing, or by adopting some conceptual model of structural behaviour. These conceptual models are often simple analogies rather than sophisticated abstractions. This paper provides a case study of one particular example; a method used in the design of an unusually large roof structure during the eighteenth century. The study is a contribution from historical materials to the ‘natural history’ of design.     

Two functions of analogical reasoning in design: a cognitive-psychology approach

On the basis of data collected in three empirical studies conducted on industrial designers, this paper identifies two different types of ‘spontaneous’ use of analogy in design. Focus is on the first ‘stages’ of analogical reasoning, i.e. construction of a target representation, and search and retrieval of a source. At the action-execution level, analogies are used in order to solve the current design problem; at the action-management level, in order to make the action-execution process cognitively more economical. Differences between the uses concern their dependence on the routine character of the task, the distance between target and source, and their link with creativity and reuse (or case-based reasoning).     

On the theory of thin bodies

It is shown that, in accordance with the law of plane sections representing the basis of the theory of thin bodies, two analogies are true: a nonstationary analogy and a stationary one. Within the framework of the stationary analogy, a new-type expansion reducing a three-dimensional problem to a stationary two-dimensional one is introduced. The asymptotic conditions of validity of the stationary and nonstationary analogies were determined and the boundary-layer conceptions for both cases were compared. Solutions of the internal and external problems on a two-dimensional flow in a narrow zone were obtained in the closed form. An asymptotically correct mathematical model of a flow in a film is proposed. The stationary and nonstationary analogies for a swirling flow around a body and a flow around a rotating body were determined. __________ Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 80, No. 5, pp. 45–54, September–October, 2007.     

The effect of information and communication technologies on creativity in collaborative design

This study compares the degree of creativity of forty-two conceptual designs proposed as solutions to two innovative design problems developed in face-to-face and virtual collaborative environments. The solutions obtained were evaluated by three experts applying the Moss metric, which considers the level of usefulness and the level of unusualness. The average values and the trends of the data were obtained, and an analysis of the variance was also performed to determine whether the environment influences the degree of creativity. The results show that it cannot be proved that the level of creativity is influenced by working face-to-face or virtually, that is, whether information and communication technologies are used or not has no effect on the final result.     

Field- and edge-consistency synthesis of A 4-noded quadrilateral plate bending element

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of two conceptual principles, the field-consistency requirement and the edge-consistency requirement, as the basis for deriving a 4-noded quadrilateral plate bending element based on Mindlin plate theory using Jacobean transformations only. The derivation is now free of the use of such devices as strain-interpolation points and Hrennik off strain reference lines, etc., which have been the basis for many recent formulations of this element. The shear strain constraints are now consistently defined within the element domain, and ‘tangential’ shear strains are consistently matched at element boundaries so that there is no locking even under extreme distortion—e.g. even when two nodes are collapsed so that the quadrilateral becomes a triangle. Numerical experiments show that this synthesis produces an element that should be identical to other recent formulations of this element based on tensorial transformations or on shear constraint condensation on the edges, but now given a more complete and formal logical basis.     

The influence of international collaboration on the impact of research results

There is an ongoing discussion on the influence of international collaboration on impact as measured by citation-based indicators. Collaboration generally involves more authors than ‘no collaboration’ work and it is obvious that the phenomenon of self-citation will be stronger (there are more authors to cite themselves). Thus it can be seen as an important ‘amplifier’ of measured impact. Although this effect is certainly possible and already demonstrated recently, it should not be considered as the only or even major explanation of higher impact in the comparison between ‘no collaboration’ and international collaboration. Using data of an extensive bibliometric study of astronomical research in the Netherlands, we prove that higher rates of self-citation in international collaboration do not play any significant role as ‘impact amplifier’. The central point is that proper impact measurement must involve corrections for self-citations.     

Consumers’ values and behaviour in the Brazilian coffee-in-capsules market: promoting circular economy

Coffee consumption is changing. Monodose, flavoured coffee capsules provide new experiences beyond the traditional custom of brewing coffee. These pods allow access to a selection of premium coffee worldwide but create huge quantities of plastic-aluminium packaging waste. The paper examines the novelty of coffee capsule consumption in Brazil in terms of consumers’ perspectives about ethical enterprise and environmental stewardship. We argue for ‘waste to resource’ management and applying reverse logistics to the coffee production supply chain. Based on circular economy principles and fuelled by the ‘green’ awareness of Brazilian coffee consumers, we propose a conceptual framework to support business decision-making by adopting a systemic intervention from the consumer viewpoint. To structure the situation, we conducted over 40 interviews, using purposive sampling. Analytic hierarchy process, value focused thinking and Rich Picture technique informed our problem structuring approach. Findings illustrate that reverse logistics supply chain in coffee capsule manufacturing presents real challenges to achieving circular practice. Yet, the eco-values of Brazilian coffee enthusiasts may be partly considered a ‘wealth of information flow’ and a potential driving force for change. This paper should be of interest to researchers/practitioners exploring how consumers may contribute to behavioural change, towards more circular business.     

Time‐space PGD for the rapid solution of 3D nonlinear parametrized problems in the many‐query context

This work deals with the question of the resolution of nonlinear problems for many different configurations in order to build a ‘virtual chart’ of solutions. The targeted problems are three‐dimensional structures driven by Chaboche‐type elastic‐viscoplastic constitutive laws. In this context, parametric analysis can lead to highly expensive computations when using a direct treatment. As an alternative, we present a technique based on the use of the time‐space proper generalized decomposition in the framework of the LATIN method. To speed up the calculations in the parametrized context, we use the fact that at each iteration of the LATIN method, an approximation over the entire time‐space domain is available. Then, a global reduced‐order basis is generated, reused and eventually enriched, by treating, one‐by‐one, all the various parameter sets. The novelty of the current paper is to develop a strategy that uses the reduced‐order basis for any new set of parameters as an initialization for the iterative procedure. The reduced‐order basis, which has been built for a set of parameters, is reused to build a first approximation of the solution for another set of parameters. An error indicator allows adding new functions to the basis only if necessary. The gain of this strategy for studying the influence of material or loading variability reaches the order of 25 in the industrial examples that are presented. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reduced integration and the shear-flexible beam element

A clearer insight into the ‘shear locking’ phenomenon, which appears in the development of C₀ continuous element using shear-flexible or penalty type formulations, is obtained by a careful study of the Timoshenko beam element. When a penalty type argument is used to degenerate thick elements to thin elements, the various approximations of the shear related energy terms act as different types of constraints and, depending on the formulation, two types of constraints which are classified as true or spurious may emerge. The spurious constraints, where they exist, are responsible for the ‘shear locking’ phenomenon, and its manifestation and elimination is demonstrated in a very simple example. The source of difficulty is shown to be the mathematical operations involved in the various shape function definitions and subsequent integration of functionals. It is seen that formulations that ensure only true constraints in the extreme penalty limit cases display far superior performance in the thick element situation as well, and thus guidelines for the development of efficient elements are drawn. A similar type of behaviour is observed in a shallow curved beam element and here ‘inplane locking’ can be eliminated by selective integration to obtain an improved curved beam element. However, ‘inplane locking’ does not cause a spurious constraint as the error quickly vanishes with the reduction of element size for a reasonable radius of curvature conforming with shallow shell theory.     

Synthesis of feedback-based design concepts for sensors

We explore an approach to synthesize concepts of a class of sensors, where a quantity is sensed indirectly after nullifying its effect by using negative feedback. These sensors use negative feedback to increase the dynamic range of operation without compromising the sensitivity and resolution. The synthesis technique uses knowledge about existing phenomena to come up with an approach to synthesize concepts of sensors and also study their interactions with their surroundings, so as to generate robust designs. The approach uses a database of building blocks which are based on physical laws and effects that capture the transduction rules underlying the working principles of sensors. A simplified variant of the SAPPhIRE model of causality, which also uses physical laws and effects, has been adapted to represent the building blocks. SAPPhIRE model had been used earlier to understand analysis and synthesis of conceptual designs. We have adapted it here for automated generation of concepts. The novelty of the approach lies in the way and the ease with which it constructs a graph which is a super-set of the concept-space. The individual concepts are extracted out of the graph at a later point in time. The extraction of the concepts is done by using a modified breadth-first search algorithm which detects loops in the graph. The usage of breadth-first search algorithm for loop detection is novel, as we have demonstrated that it performs better than depth-first search algorithm for the specific problem. The technique has been implemented as a web-based application. For the sensor problems attempted, a number of existing patents were found that were based on the concepts that were generated by the synthesis algorithm, thus emphasizing the usefulness of the designs produced. The tool generated 35 concepts for accelerometers, out of which 2 concepts were found in patents. The synthesis approach also proposed new, feasible sensor concepts, thereby indicating its potential as a stimulator for enhancing creativity of designers. Automated generation of feedback-based sensor designs is a novel outcome of this approach.     

通感在招贴设计中的运用

分析了招贴设计和通感的涵义,并结合日常生活中的各种现象,论述了通感具有生理基础和心理感应。通过对招贴设计实例的解析,揭示出在招贴设计中可以将触觉、视觉、听觉、味觉及嗅觉相互转化。得出了通感可以使观赏者对招贴设计作品产生全方位的视听共鸣,无限扩充受众对设计作品理解的深度,充分展示出设计师及艺术家的无穷创造力。     

产品突破性创新概念设计过程模型研究

目的 产品突破性创新设计是提升产品价值、增强产业竞争力、实现中国创造的有效途径。为了实现产品突破性创新,构建符合突破性创新特点的模型至关重要。方法 聚焦产品概念设计阶段,根据突破性创新内涵与特征,通过对文献的分析与综合,将约束与创新围绕创造力建立联系,并借鉴创造力的“生成-探索”模型,探索产品突破性创新概念设计新路径。结论 提出了一种新的产品突破性创新概念设计过程模型。该模型以约束类型与来源为框架,通过提高创新资源约束水平来强化创造力,以跨领域知识和技术的运用为手段,形成了创意优先的产品突破性创新概念设计路径。模块化自重构机器人概念设计实践表明:该模型能够有效支持产品突破性创新概念设计的开展,具备一定的理论价值和实践意义。     

A magneto-active scaffold for stimulation of bone growth

Abstract

Creating ‘smart’ biomedical devices with the potential for controlled actuation in vivo has been a long-standing scientific pursuit in therapeutic medicine. The present work focuses on a bone regeneration scaffold based on ferromagnetic fibres designed to induce in vivo modelling of in-growing periprosthetic bone by the application of an external magnetic field of clinical magnitude. We present the conceptual basis of such a ‘magneto-active scaffold’, the properties of prime interest and how these properties can be controlled.     

Analogies between spectral methods and multiaxial criteria in fatigue damage evaluation

This work aims to emphasize some analogies existing between multiaxial fatigue criteria and spectral methods in the context of fatigue damage assessment for uniaxial stochastic loadings in the frequency domain. Among multiaxial criteria available in literature, attention is focused on the so-called “Projection-by-Projection” (PbP) approach, in which fatigue damage of a multiaxial process is computed by using a non-linear summation rule of single damage contributions of uncorrelated projected loadings. In this work the theoretical framework of PbP method will be used to provide a possible mathematical interpretation of the so-called “single moment” (SM) approach, a spectral method for estimating fatigue damage in uniaxial stochastic loadings that was elaborated in 1990 on a purely “empirical” basis. The idea here formalized is to split the spectrum of a uniaxial process into an infinite set of narrow-band spectral contributions, so to define a set of mutually uncorrelated uniaxial narrow-band stochastic processes. The analogy between the damage of a multiaxial process and that of a uniaxial process split into infinitesimal spectral components is shown. Once the formal analogy between uniaxial and multiaxial spectral methods is established, numerical simulations are used to evaluate the accuracy of SM method with reference to different types of stochastic processes with bimodal spectral density.     

Change in magnetic induction lines during the current-induced destruction of superconductivity

Recent results of experimental investigations show that during the current-induced destruction of superconductivity in cylindrical samples a non-azimuthal component of the magnetic induction arises. This ‘autoparamagnetic effect’ is observable both in type I and type II superconductors.Assuming a helical form for the magnetic flux filaments the angle between the magnetic induction lines and the plane perpendicular to the Pb + In alloy sample axis is estimated in several cases. A conceptual explanation of the energy losses in the resistive state is presented.     

Synergy or separation mode: the relationship between the academic research and the knowledge-transfer activities of Korean academics

What factors influence the relationship between the academic research and the knowledge- transfer activities of academics, in particular in ‘catch-up’ countries like South Korea? To address this research question, after first conducting a critical review of existing theoretical and empirical studies, we put forward a conceptual framework based on the twin concepts of ‘synergy’ and ‘separation’ modes, together with a number of accompanying hypotheses. These hypotheses, along with others that emerged from subsequent interviews, are then tested using various statistical models. After taking into account the specific characteristics of scientific communities in rapidly catching-up counties such as Korea, we find that not only are individual characteristics (such as the gender, age, discipline, and patenting activity) of academics significantly related to the generation of a ‘synergy mode’ (i.e. a positive relationship between academic research and knowledge-transfer activities) among academics, but so too are a number of contextual characteristics (e.g. laboratory size and type of university).     

Force prediction models and CAD/CAM software for helical tooth milling processes. II. Peripheral milling operations

The domain of the many process variables for peripheral milling operations has been established and used for the identification, numerical assessment and experimental verification of the appropriate predictive force model as well as the development of cutter design strategies. The ‘eccentricity’ model has been shown to be the appropriate model for peripheral milling operations where the average, peak and fluctuating forces, torque and power are to be predicted. The simpler ‘ideal case’ model proved useful for predicting the average forces and torque as well as locating the conditions for zero or minimum fluctuations from explicit mathematical equations derived from the model. The ‘eccentricity’ model has been experimentally verified and shown to give good quantitative predictions. Based on the models strategies for cutter design have been developed and used to explain, and recommend improvements to, the rationalized commercial cutter designs. The unified mechanics of cutting approach and modular software has been successfully extended to peripheral milling and its validity for end-milling and slotting operations will be assessed in future parts of this investigation     

Extending Cognitive Work Analysis for embodiment: ecological psychology,activity theory and Worker Competency Analysis

With the growth of novel embedded technologies, human interaction with ‘smart’ environments will require a comprehensive conceptualisation of the body and embodied cognition. Thus, producing a requirement for work analysis approaches to address the embodied aspects of work systems. Correspondingly, this article presents two interrelated items. First, it extends Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) on the basis of embodiment, ecological psychology and activity theory. The embodied approach to cognition emphasises that human knowing (cognition) is shaped by the body and behaviour: the body, mind and activity are intricately entwined. In extending CWA for the embodiment, this article presents the second contribution in terms of the ‘embodiment hierarchy’ in the fifth phase of CWA – Worker Competency Analysis, for addressing the constraints related to embodiment. An example in the nanotechnology domain is provided to demonstrate the above-mentioned concepts.