| The importance of object-oriented design in improving design productivity, improving design quality and in developing computable design models has been recognized. However, the previous object-oriented design systems have, for the most part, been built in an adhoc manner for a specific design domain and are not based on a formal methodology. Therefore, the results are difficult to extend to other design domains. The aim of this thesis is to develop an object-oriented approach (called Design-with-Objects (DwO)) that encompasses both the fundamentals of object-oriented design and the use of object-oriented design in the development of design process models. The main potential advantage of such an approach is that it would be fairly general in nature and could then be applied, with varying levels of difficulty, to other domains.;Design models, DwO methods and an architecture for DwO are described together with example design process model formalisms that use DwO. The implementation of this DwO approach is then described for the area of Design with Modules, where the problem of personal computer configuration is addressed; the area of Feature-Based Design, where the problem of helical spring design is addressed; and the area of Electronics Assemblies, where electronics components selection is addressed.;The main contributions of this thesis are threefold. First, the basis of a new approach to object-oriented design, called DwO, is presented. This basis includes definitions of design objects, design models and DwO methods. Second, a new architecture for the use of DwO is described. Third, the use of DwO has been illustrated with DwO design process model formalism in three different design domains.;While much research remains to be done, DwO would appear to offer some substantial potential advantages including computability, in that a design process model obtained using DwO is not just a descriptive model but a computable model, reusability, in that once a design object in DwO has been established, it can be used repeatedly, and exchangeability, in that objects with similar interfaces can be readily exchanged in a modular manner. |
