Ontology-Based Knowledge Representation for Mechanical Products

Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) helps sharing and reusing knowledge in modern mechanical design field. As a core part of KBE, various methods of knowledge representation were studied. In order to reuse the mechanical design knowledge, the methodology of ontology-based knowledge representation was discussed. First, the concepts, formal description, specialties and languages of ontology were described. Then, three categories of ontology in the field of mechanical design, general ontology, domain ontology and product ontology, were discussed. The product ontology was analyzed by the configuration design method. Finally, an example of ontology-based knowledge representation for mechanical products was studied. The work about ontology-based knowledge representation methodology may support the application of KBE in mechanical design field.