A New Approach to Conceptual Design of Mechanical Products Using Polychromatic Sets

The paper summarizes the polychromatic sets theory and its application as a powerful tool for the modeling of computer aided conceptual design and the related reasoning process.The polychromatic sets theory makes it possible to establish the conceptual model of mechanical products layout which is difficult to be formalized.The knowledge expression based on polychromatic set theory and function-method tree is illustrated.A closeness function is established to build the mathematical model for evaluating the relative redundancy of solutions and eliminating illogical ones.A detailed design process in the form of flow chart is presented.In order to be clear,an example of machining tool design is provided.