An online Web-based environment for detailed design reuse

This research presents an online Web-based environment for the reuse of detailed design. In this environment, users can browse existing product databases including all related product information and graphic displays of the geometrical models, search and retrieve related products and generate new designs from existing products. In the underlying database, product data are clustered into product families to facilitate data management and reuse, and the variant method is adopted to transform an existing design into a new design.