ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: Mechanical Engineering
- Creators: Shah, Jami J.
To aid this research a library of feature fitting algorithms is developed in parallel. The library consists of least squares, Chebyshev and one sided fits applied on the features of line, plane, circle and cylinder. The proposed normative procedures are useful for evaluating tolerances in CMMs. The results evaluated will be in accordance to the standard. The ambiguity in choosing the algorithms is prevented. The software developed can be used in quality control for inspection purposes.
Despite these remarkable contributions, there exist shortcomings in the previous versions (version 1 and version 2) of the holistic ideation tool. First, there is a need to add new ideation methods to the holistic ideation tool. Second, the organizational framework provided by previous versions needs to be improved, and a holistic approach needs to be devised, instead of separate logical or intuitive approaches. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to make the improvements and to resolve technical issues that are involved in their implementation.
Towards this objective, a new web based holistic ideation tool (version 3) has been created. The new tool adds and integrates Knowledge Bases of Mechanisms and Components Off-The-Shelf (COTS) into logical ideation methods. Additionally, an improved CEMC framework has been devised for organizing ideas efficiently. Furthermore, the usability of the tool has been improved by designing and implementing a new graphical user interface (GUI) which is more user friendly. It is hoped that these new features will lead to a platform for the designers to not only generate creative ideas but also effectively organize and store them in the conceptual design stage. By placing it on the web for public use, the Testbed has the potential to be used for research on the ideation process by effectively collecting large amounts of data from designers.
This dissertation proposes the Problem Map (P-maps) ontological framework. P-maps represent designers' problem formulation in terms of six groups of entities (requirement, use scenario, function, artifact, behavior, and issue). Entities have hierarchies within each group and links among groups. Variables extracted from P-maps characterize problem formulation.
Three experiments were conducted. The first experiment was to study the similarities and differences between novice and expert designers. Results show that experts use more abstraction than novices do and novices are more likely to add entities in a specific order. Experts also discover more issues.
The second experiment was to see how problem formulation relates to creativity. Ideation metrics were used to characterize creative outcome. Results include but are not limited to a positive correlation between adding more issues in an unorganized way with quantity and variety, more use scenarios and functions with novelty, more behaviors and conflicts identified with quality, and depth-first exploration with all ideation metrics. Fewer hierarchies in use scenarios lower novelty and fewer links to requirements and issues lower quality of ideas.
The third experiment was to see if problem formulation can predict creative outcome. Models based on one problem were used to predict the creativity of another. Predicted scores were compared to assessments of independent judges. Quality and novelty are predicted more accurately than variety, and quantity. Backward elimination improves model fit, though reduces prediction accuracy.
P-maps provide a theoretical framework for formalizing, tracing, and quantifying conceptual design strategies. Other potential applications are developing a test of problem formulation skill, tracking students' learning of formulation skills in a course, and reproducing other researchers’ observations about designer thinking.
Interoperability of geometric dimension & tolerance data between CAD systems through ISO STEP AP 242
The objective of this research is to allocate tolerance values to ensure that the assemblability conditions are satisfied. Assemblability refers to “the ability to assemble/fit a set of parts in specified configuration given a nominal geometry and its corresponding tolerances”. Assemblability is determined by the clearances between the mating features. These clearances are affected by accumulation of tolerances in tolerance loops and hence, the tolerance loops are extracted first. Once tolerance loops have been identified initial tolerance values are allocated to the contributors in these loops. It is highly unlikely that the initial allocation would satisfice assemblability requirements. Overlapping loops have to be simultaneously satisfied progressively. Hence, tolerances will need to be re-allocated iteratively. This is done with the help of tolerance analysis module.
The tolerance allocation and analysis module receives the constraint graph which contains all basic dimensions and mating constraints from the generated schema. The tolerance loops are detected by traversing the constraint graph. The initial allocation distributes the tolerance budget computed from clearance available in the loop, among its contributors in proportion to the associated nominal dimensions. The analysis module subjects the loops to 3D parametric variation analysis and estimates the variation parameters for the clearances. The re-allocation module uses hill climbing heuristics derived from the distribution parameters to select a loop. Re-allocation Of the tolerance values is done using sensitivities and the weights associated with the contributors in the stack.
Several test cases have been run with this software and the desired user input acceptance rates are achieved. Three test cases are presented and output of each module is discussed.