An architecture for conceptual mechanical modeling

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems have fallen short of their potential to improve the mechanical design process. CAD systems are actually used for activities that occur near the end of the design process: detailing the geometry of artifacts, analysis ( e.g., stress, thermal) of such artifacts, generating production drawings, etc. By this time most of the critical design decisions have been made already. One need only look at studies, revealing that 75$%of the eventual costs of a product are determined before “full-scale development” begins, to realize the implications of this pattern of usage,