Methods Supporting Product Modular Design for Assembly

To manage the complexities of module partitions, a new approach to the partitions of hierarchical modules for products is proposed. Based on the assembly and manufacture process, it determines the hierarchy and basis of the module partition first, and then according to the type of connection between the parts of the block module, the degree of membership for the rational connection is gained and the fuzzy relation matrix between different parts is established. It uses the fuzzy clustering techniques to partition the modules, and then uses the method of grey comprehensive assessment to choose relative reasonable scheme. Combining with a concrete mechanical example, the systematic approach could be well adapted to the generation of product modularization for the assembly and manufacture process. Compared with other optimal algorithm, it endows with some characteristics such as simplicity and superiority.