Exploring design spacesinthesearch forembodiment design solutions anddecision support

Thedesign ofan air-conditioning systemfora commercial aircraft, whichfunctions invarious lifecycle stages, provesdifficult because atmospheric conditions differ greatly according totheflight phase. Thispaper proposes theuse ofconstraint programming in theexploration ofdesign spacesandthesearchforfeasible embodiments. Thisapproachproducesthebestdesign compromises betweenvariousdesignobjectives, whatever thelife cycle stage. Theentire design space isexplored forpotential solutions andtheirperformance assessed, thusallowing fordecision support attheendoftheembodiment design phase. _ I ~~~~~Coupling 1 8@ - shaft