Designing Complex Systems: Foundations of Design in the Functional Domain

by Aslaksen; Erik W.

• ISBN13: 9781420087536
• ISBN10: 1420087533
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-27
• Publisher: Auerbach Public

Summary

Without standardized construction elements such as nuts, bolts, bearings, beams, resistors and the like, the design of physical equipment is hopelessly inefficient, and engineers are continually bogged down with re-designing these elements over and over again. The same can be said for the domain of ideas and performance requirements. Only through a process of standardization of the corresponding functional elements will systems engineering truly live up to its potential of increased efficiency and quality.Designing Complex Systems: Foundations of Design in the Functional Domain introduces students and practitioners in the field of system design to a particular methodology that addresses design issues in a rigorous and consistent top-down fashion. It also reassesses the characteristics of engineering and its place within the field of intellectual activity, in particular, examining the creative aspects of design as reflected in the difference between engineers and technicians.Erik W. Aslaksen brings forty years of experience to the table with this groundbreaking work. He examines how the concept of value can provide a quantitative measure of that wider interaction of the engineered object with its environment. With its forward-looking approach and holistic perspective, this volume is sure to advance the field of knowledge of systems engineering for years to come.

Author Biography

Erik W. Aslaksen brings forty years of experience to the table with this ground-breaking work

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
How the Subject Matter Is Approached	p. 1
Engineering	p. 3
Epistemology and Functionality	p. 7
Complexity	p. 9
Systems	p. 12
Bringing It All Together	p. 13
Notes	p. 15
The Purpose of Design	p. 17
The Design Process and Measures of Success	p. 17
Return on Investment	p. 22
Philosophical Motivation	p. 25
The Concept of Value	p. 26
The Central Role of Money as a Measure	p. 28
The Dynamics of the Design Process	p. 30
Notes	p. 32
The Design Methodology	p. 35
Outline	p. 35
Defining Quality of Service	p. 38
Determining the Value of a Service	p. 41
Assigning Cost to a Functionality	p. 42
Some Basic Rules for Developing Functional Elements	p. 44
Applying Functional Elements in Top-Down Design	p. 46
The Basic Design Process	p. 48
Notes	p. 50
Functional Elements and the Functional Domain	p. 51
Functional Elements	p. 51
The Functional Domain	p. 60
The Functional Parameter Space	p. 62
Structure of the Functional Domain	p. 66
Element States	p. 70
Functions on State Space	p. 72
Notes	p. 73
Interactions and Systems	p. 75
The System Concept	p. 75
Interactions between Real Functional Elements	p. 78
Functional Systems	p. 80
Structure of Systems	p. 82
Systems of Imaginary Elements	p. 87
Notes	p. 89
Properties of Systems	p. 91
System States	p. 91
Changes of State	p. 94
Service Density Function and Superspace	p. 97
Availability	p. 99
The Basic Design Process Revisited	p. 100
Notes	p. 102
Expanding the Irreducible Element	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
The System Life Cycle	p. 104
Cost Components	p. 106
Subsystems and Cost Allocation	p. 108
Stochastic Aspects	p. 110
A Stochastic System Performance Model	p. 110
The Service Density Function [characters not reproducible](s;[lambda],[delta])	p. 114
Temporal Aspects	p. 117
A Set of First-Level Elements	p. 120
The First-Level System	p. 120
The Service Delivery Element	p. 122
The Cost Element	p. 122
The Revenue Element	p. 123
The Return on Investment Element	p. 124
Classifying Service Elements	p. 124
An Example: Underground Copper Mine	p. 125
Summary	p. 127
Notes	p. 128
Maintained Systems	p. 129
Failure and Repair in the Two Domains	p. 129
Order, Information, and Entropy in the Two Domains	p. 133
A Functional Element Representing Maintenance	p. 135
A Model with Binary Interactions	p. 137
Organizational Disorder	p. 139
Coherence	p. 141
Notes	p. 148
The System Designer's Assistant	p. 149
Introduction	p. 149
Structure of the SDA	p. 150
The Model Worksheet	p. 151
Element Format	p. 153
Application and Further Development of the Methodology	p. 158
Notes	p. 159
Index	p. 161
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