Engineering change modelling using a function-behaviour-structure scheme

Engineering changes are unavoidable and occur throughout the lifecycle of products. Due to the high interconnectivity of engineering products, a single change to one component usually has knock-on effects on other components causing further changes. This change propagation significantly affects the success of a product in the market by increasing development cost and time-to-market. As such engineering change management is essential to companies, but it is a complex task for managers and researchers alike. To address this challenge, the thesis at hand investigates the state-of-the-art of research in engineering change management and develops a method to support engineering change propagation analysis, termed FBS Linkage. This method integrates functional reasoning with change prediction. A product is modelled as a network of its functional, behavioural, and structural attributes. Change propagation is then described as spread between the elements along the links of this network. The FBS Linkage concept is designed based on a comprehensive set of requirements derived from both the literature and industry practices as well as a comparative assessment of existing change methods and functional reasoning schemes. A step-by-step technique of building and using an FBS Linkage model is demonstrated. The method’s potential benefits are discussed. Finally, the application of the method to two industrial case studies involving a diesel engine and a scanning electron microscope is presented. The method evaluation indicates that the benefits of the method outweigh its application effort and pinpoints areas for further refinement.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Hamraz, Bahram

• Engineering changes
• Change propagation
• Engineering change management
• Functional reasoning
• Engineering design
• Product development
• Product modelling

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/d59b9e41-3cce-4683-9e5c-2a6803e2ca04/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.14061

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/245074