An Innovative Methodology of Product Design from Nature

Nature is an information sourcebook of behaviour, function, colour and shape which can inspire visual design and invention. Studying the form and functional characteristics of a natural object can provide inspiration for product design and help to improve the marketability of manufactured products. The inspiration can be triggered either by direct observation or captured by three-dimensional （3D） digitising techniques to obtain superficial information （geometry and colour）. An art designer often creates a concept in the form of a two-dimensional （2D） sketch while engineering methods lead to a point cloud in 3D. Each has its limitations in that the art designer commonly lacks the knowledge to build a final product from a 2D sketch and the engi- neering designer＇s 3D point clouds may not be very beautiful. We propose a method for Product Design from Nature （PDN）, coupling aesthetic intent and geometrical characteristics, exploring the interactions between designers and nature＇s systems in PDN. We believe that this approach would considerably reduce the lead time and cost of product design from nature.

Extraction and evolution of grader’s bionic morphological feature line using shape structure behavior function model

To improve the innovation of agricultural machinery product styling,this paper proposes a shape structure behavior function(SSBF)model suitable for the industrial design field.The feature line evolution method combining shape grammar and genetic algorithm was used for modelling the of the grader,which not only maintains the product style characteristics but also reflects the typical identification characteristics of the bionic prototype and produces a new product modelling scheme.By conducting cognitive and recognition experiments on product styling features,the ranking of product styling features and the contribution of each component to product styling were determined.The method of combining shape grammar and quadratic Bézier curve was used to express and encode feature lines,and genetic algorithm was used to evolve biomimetic forms to form product feature lines with typical biological morphological features;The extracted form bionic elements were integrated into the grader modelling design,and the interaction evaluation was carried out through the genetic algorithm evolution scheme.The basic form elements were extracted and analyzed,and the deduction rules were formulated and reorganized.The derived feature line geometric data considered the product’s image features and the bio-inspired prototype,which can be used for the follow-up guidance of industrial design schemes.

Wear Behavior of a Bio-inspired Bearing for off-center Loads

Misalignment is one of the most common causes of wear in bush bearings.Design improvements have been proposed by many researchers.Unfortunately,it did not efficiently reduce the misalignment.Classic geometrical designs sometimes reach their limits.For this reason,a bio-inspired design is proposed to solve the impediment.In this article,a bio-inspired bearing suited to misalignment was tested and compared to a classical bush bearing.The contact pressures of both bearings were compared with static Finite Element(FE)simulations for off-center load.Due to the complex shape of the involved contact,the performances of both bearings were also studied over time.Their wear behaviors were predicted with a numerical method.The methodologies emplaced to simulate the wear were described in this paper.Particularly,the wear coefficient determination obtained by experimental testing was detailed.The pressure value,the contact zone and the wear depth were compared and discussed.The wear results for the classical bearing are in accordance with the literature.The simulations show a deeper wear on the classical bush bearing than on the bio-inspired bearing.This leads to a longer period of service life for the bio-inspired bearing.