Axiomatic Design Framework

Axiom 1 : Independent Axiom

Axiom 2 : Information Axiom

Axiom 1 : Independence Axiom

Ex: Baverage Can Design
Consider an alumunium beverage can that
contain carbonated drinks. How many FRs must
the can satisfy? How many physical parts does it
have? What are the DPs? How many DPs are
there?

12 Plausible FR:
1. Contain axial & radial pressure,
2. Withstand a moderate impact
when the can dropped from a
certain height,
3. Allow stacking on top of each
other,
4. Provide easy access to the liquid
in the can,
5. Minimize the use of
alumunium,
6. Be printable on the surface, etc.

12 DPs (most of the DPs are

associated with the geometry of the
can)
1. The thickness of the can body,
2. The curvature at the bottom of
the can,
3. The smaller diameter of the can
at the top to reduce the
material used to make the top
lid
4. The corrugated geometry of the
opening tab to increase the
stiffness
5. The small extrusion on the lid to
attach the tab, and so on

But, The can consist of only 3 pieces: Body, the Lid, and opener tab

Identifying Plausible DP
To conceive the design concept, database of all
kinds and all available methods may be used:
Brainstorming
Morphological techniques
Analogy from another examples
Extrapolation & interpolation
Laws of nature
Order-of-magnitude analysis
Reverse engineering

 Functional coupling should not be confused

with physical coupling, which is often
considerable as consequence of Axiom 2.
Integration of more than one function in a
single part, as long as the functions remain
independent, should reduce complexity.
An example that ilustrates the use of physical
integration without compromising functional
independence is the bottle/can opener design

Bottle/Can Opener Design

FR1: Open beverage bottles
FR2: Open beverage cans

If the requirement is not to perform these functions

simultaneously, then this physical integrated device
satisfies two independent FRs

Corollaries
Corollary 1: (Decoupling of Coupled Design).
Corollary 2: (Minimization of FRs). Minimize the
number of FRs and constrain
Corollary 3: (Integration of Physical Parts).
Corollary 4: Use of Standardization
Corollary 5: Use symmetry
Corollary 6: Largest Tolerance
Corollary 7: Uncoupled Design with Less
Information

Ideal Design, Redundant Design, &

Couple Design
Theorema 1: Coupling due to insufficient of
DPs
Theorema 2: Decoupling of Coupled Design
Theorema 3: Redundant Design
Theorema 4: Ideal Design
Teorema 5: ...(next lesson)

Axiom 2 : Information Axiom

Axiom 2
Motivation for Axiom 2:
There may be more than one design that satisfies with Axiom 1. The problem is to
select one of them. Such a selection process demands criterion or criteria.
Is there any generic criterion or criteria?
Complexity of making or manufacturing designs.
What is complexity?
Uncertainty and vagueness of information that is presented in a design
specification for a system.
How can we measure complexity? difficulty to do

There are two aspects: (a) design or plan and (b) manufacturing and implementation,
because difficulty to do depends on different techniques or tools used just the same as
for a same problem, one human may feel difficult while another may feel not difficult.
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The result of detailed

design

Axiom 2

Example 1:
A design specification for a shaft is as follows: length of the shaft is 10 with a
tolerance being 0.10 mm.
Tool 1: measurement ability: 0.01 mm
Tool 2: measurement ability: 0.05 mm
Tool 3: measurement ability: 0.20 mm
Comment:
From the above, we can see that tool 1 can achieve the design specification with
the highest successful rate. Yet, tool 3 may never be able to make the shaft to
satisfy the requirement.

Need to define a quantity to represent the easy or difficult state to fulfill this task.

 It states that among those design that satisfy the

independence axiom, The design that has the
smallest information content is the best design.
When information content is grester than zero,
information must be supplied to satisfy the FRs at
all times
Because the information content is defined in
terms of probability of success is the best design.

Axiom 2

Design range is the range of values of the DP that will

satisfy the FR;
System range is the range of values of the DP which can be
made by a manufacturing system or system;
The common range is the intersection of the system range
and the design range.
15

Axiom 2
Information content, I, is defined by

The overall information content can be

calculated by

16

Axiom 2: Information Content

Information content of designs should be
minimized. Among designs that satisfy
function requirements, the design with the
minimum information content has the
highest probability of success.
The information axiom provides a
quantitative way to select the optimum from
design solutions
17

Summary
1. Given n designs, which one is the best?
2. The best design should have the minimum information content
3. Information content is a measure of the complexity of a design
in the context of means or systems that are available to make
the design
4. In application, the key is to define design range and system
range assuming that the probability density is uniform
N.P. Suh, The principle of design, Oxford University Press, 1990

Pages: beginning to 46-51; 147-153; 307-311.

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Design Range, system range, common

range& system PDF for FR

Example: Buying a House

A family is planning to buy a new house. They decided that
the following are the four important functional requirements
the house must satisfy:
FR1= Commuting time must be in the range 15-30 minute
FR2= The quality of local high school must be good (i.e.,
more than 65% of the high school graduates must go to
reputable collage
FR3= The quality of air must be good over 340 days a year
FR4= The price of the house must be reasonable (i.e., a
four-bedroom house with 3000 square feet of heated space
must be less than $650.000

They look around town A,B,C & collected the following data:

Town

FR1 = Commute time

(min)

FR2 = Quality
of Schools (%)

FR3= Quality of FR4 = Price

air (days)
(1000 $)

20 to 40

50 to 70

300 to 320

450 to 550

20 to 30

50 to 75

340 to 350

450 to 650

20 to 45

50 to 80

350 and up

600 to 800

Which town meets the requirements of the familiy the best?

Solusi:
Town
A
B
C

I1 (bits)

I2 (bits)

I3 (bits)

I4 (bits)

Exercise
1. Analyze the design of Honda Accord (only
operational feature) in term of the axiom,
corollaries, and theorema.
2. Design a 35-mm camera that can automatically
focus & set correct expossure
3. Design an educational system that provide
lifelong learning (sometimes called continuing
education) to practising engineers
4. Decouple the conventional Mobile Audio/ Radio