Concurrent materials and manufacturing process selection in design function deployment

This paper aims to enunciate a model for concurrent materials and associated manufacturing process selection within a comprehensive design system called Design Function Deployment (DFD). The stages of the materials and manufacturing process functions deployment process and how it interfaces with the DFD design model, is fully elucidated. The interactions during the design process, between materials properties, manufacturing processes and form (shape, geometry and size) and how this impinges on the selection process is also discussed. The paper concludes by discussing the software system architecture for the proposed materials and manufacturing process selection within DFD, and how it can be implemented.