A new 3D-CAD system for set-based parametric design

So far, there has been an extraordinary development of computer-aided tools intended to generate, present or communicate 3D models. But there has not been a comparable progress in the development of 3D-CAD systems intended to assist designers in representing and manipulating both geometric and non-geometric design information based on solid models, thus facilitating concurrent engineering (CE). Design objects continue to be produced by traditional means using the computer as little more than a drafting tool. In addition, the state-of-the-art 3D-CAD systems are incapable of encoding engineering uncertainties since only precise single-valued assignments are allowed for their modeling operations. Recently, set-based CE (SBCE) has been attracting public attention as an emerging CE paradigm. Such a set-based design (SBD) approach presents many possibilities in handling the uncertainties that are intrinsic at the early phases of design. This paper addresses a novel concept – set-based parametric design (SBPD) – which combines the SBD practice with the parametric modeling technique widely used in most 3D-CAD systems. A preference set-based design (PSD) model and a design information solid (DIS) model are proposed to incorporate the SBPD concept into the current 3D-CAD systems. Finally, a prototype system is implemented to illustrate the potential to achieve a SBPD practice.