Presidential Young Investigator Award: Function, Form, and Fabrication Relationships in Design

设计可以用许多不同的上下文或语言来描述。通常，工程师用一组性能规范和约束来描述产品。这些构成了对产品的功能描述。机械设计师或绘图员使用一组图纸来描述产品的形状。制造工程师使用工艺流程表根据制造方法来描述产品。设计任务是指定产品的一种形式，以最大限度地满足功能和制造方面的约束或目标。研究了功能、形式、制造三者之间的关系。这些关系是设计决策的基础，在考虑设计比例、设计修改以适应对材料、机械或工具的限制或考虑标准和公差时，这些关系是必不可少的。目前，人们对这些关系知之甚少。在没有更好的理解的情况下，设计师将继续使用经验主义和启发式进行设计。

A design can be described in a number of different contexts or languages. Typically, an engineer describes a product in terms of a set of performance specifications and constraints. These constitute a functional description of the product. The mechanical designer or draftsman uses a set of drawings to describe the form of the product. The manufacturing engineer uses a process sheet to describe the product in terms of the means for fabrication. The design task is to specify a form of the product to best satisfy constraints or objectives on function and fabrication. The relationships among function, form, and fabrication are studied. These relationships are the basis for design decisions and are essential when considering design scaling, design modifications to accommodate restrictions on materials, machinery, or tooling or in the consideration of standards and tolerancing. Currently, these relationships are poorly understood. Without a better understanding, designers will continue to use empiricism and heuristics to design.