Design for multi-functional product by searching shareable functional components

Abstract

A product with multiple functions can save resources such as material and space compared to single function products. A multi-functional product can be designed through the structural transformation and reorganization of different products. It is a challenge for designers to combine different single-functional products into one to perform multi-functions. This paper proposes a method based on the similarity analysis of flow and function descriptions of different products to form a multi-functional product. A functional element similarity matrix (FESM) is formed first based on the existing products. A component-component similarity matrix (CCSM) is then obtained by combining the functional element-component correlation matrix (FECCM) with FESM. An optimal match of design similarity is searched according to values of CCSM to form the multi-functional product. A product is designed with combined functions of the electric razor and cleanser using the proposed method in a case study.