a preliminary investigation into geometry, represented by parameters, and its effect on function and manufacturing attributes

this paper demonstrates a preliminary investigation of geometry, function and its relation to dfx principles, namely dfm (design for manufacturing). this is the starting point for research on the development of an expert system that assesses design goals along dfx principles in a feature-based cad environment. there is a need for a deeper level of understanding of the relationship between geometry and its effects on function, in order to correct and improve the product concept before large amounts of resources are invested in the product’s development. this paper is a preliminary investigation into geometry and function involving dfm as part of an early stage of research into geometric effects on function and dfx through the use of cad/cae/cam.in this paper, a concept is chosen to develop a parametric solid model that will be used to investigate a set of defined function attributes using model variants, which are evaluated in terms of the defined function attributes and dfm. the investigation found that for the functions defined, geometric parameters had less of an effect than expected. this is mainly due to the fact that the defined function attributes under investigation were associated with material properties. this paper demonstrates a preliminary investigation at the early stage of research to develop a more detailed relationship structure between geometry and functional attributes and their relationship with dfx. the end goal is to develop an integrated methodology involving geometry, function and dfx principles through the use of cad/cae/cam .