Conceptual design synthesis based on series-parallel functional unit structure.

Conceptual design synthesis is the core and starting phase of the design process. During this phase, the designers should deal with a large number of design resources to construct conceptual systems which meet the functional requirement. Therefore, a conceptual design synthesis approach based on series-parallel function unit structure is proposed as an assistant tool for the designers. This approach can help the designers completing the conceptual design synthesis of simple design missions or elementary functional modules of complex design missions with series-parallel-structured synthesis results. A corresponding computer programme is established as an implementation, and the conceptual design synthesis of the mechanical part of a friction-abrasion testing machine is completed with this programme to prove the practicability of this proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]