PORT-BASED DESCRIPTION OF FUNCTIONAL MODELING FOR PRODUCT CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

This paper introduces an approach to a port-based functional modeling framework for product conceptual design. A port-based knowledge building process is described for functional modeling. This research proposes a method of creating and managing different ports. First, this paper describes port attributes and three port types — mechanical port, electrical port and configuration port, and gives port attributes of compatibility. Second, it presents a port-based modeling design process, that is divided into three main modules: the language of port description, port-based FBS representation and port knowledge management. Three knowledge layers are specialized for function, behavior and structural knowledge. They represent different abstraction levels of the product conceptualization. Each layer is represented with a description logic for convenient reasoning. We provide formal definitions of the framework to manage port knowledge. Finally, the process of port-based functional modeling is presented in a thermal bubble jet application to demonstrate the effectiveness of the research.