Web services-based knowledge sharing, reuse and integration in the design evaluation of mechanical systems

The process of design evaluation is a complicated task for designers due to the need to employ sufficient multi-disciplinary design knowledge. To aid this task, the sharing, reuse and integration of multi-disciplinary knowledge between workers, who play different roles and perform different operations in the design evaluation process, is of great importance. Web services provide an appropriate means to transfer design knowledge between individuals and teams in different disciplines, offering reductions in operation costs and enhanced efficiency, with a better, more streamlined service. This paper identifies and clarifies the knowledge needs required in the design evaluation process, models the knowledge flow among various organizations and the knowledge shared between them, and proposes a web services-based knowledge flow framework to enhance collaboration among various disciplinary experts. An illustrative case is presented to demonstrate how the proposed model may be used to represent design knowledge and integrate it into the design evaluation process. Results from this study contribute significantly to efforts in fulfilling the diverse knowledge needs of workers in the evaluation process. It also helps integrated designers to obtain a clear view of knowledge flow during design evaluation and facilitates knowledge sharing, exchange and reuse among various organizations via a web service-based method.