Classifying Functions for Mechanical Design

As design methods are studied, the usefulness of function-based methodologies becomes clear. However, for these methodologies to be fully utilized, there must be some standardization of the functions used to provide a common language. This paper presents a taxonomy of elemental mechanical functions which can be used with many decomposition techniques. The taxonomy can be used as a pedagogical tool or as a basis for the derivation of a complete taxonomy. Also discussed are generic forms and how they interact with the taxonomy.