For space manufacturers, additive manufacturing promises to dramatically reduce weight and costs by means of integral designs achieved through part consolidation. However, integrated designs hinder the ability to change and service components over time – actually increasing costs – which is instead enabled by highly modular designs. Finding the optimal trade-off between integral and modular designs in additive manufacturing is of critical importance. In this article, a product modularisation methodology is proposed for supporting such trade-offs. The methodology is based on combining function modelling with optimisation algorithms. It evaluates product design concepts with respect to product adaptability, component interface costs, manufacturing costs and cost of post-processing activities. The developed product modularisation methodology is derived from data collected through a series of workshops with industrial practitioners from three different manufacturer companies of space products. The implementation of the methodology is demonstrated in a case study featuring the redesign of a satellite antenna.

中文翻译：

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用于卫星组件增材制造的模块化产品设计：使用遗传算法最大化产品价值

对于航天制造商而言，增材制造有望通过零件整合实现整体设计，从而显着减轻重量和成本。然而，集成设计阻碍了随着时间的推移更改和维护组件的能力——实际上增加了成本——而这却是通过高度模块化的设计实现的。在增材制造中找到整体设计和模块化设计之间的最佳平衡点至关重要。在本文中，提出了一种产品模块化方法来支持这种权衡。该方法基于将函数建模与优化算法相结合。它从产品适应性、组件接口成本、制造成本和后处理活动成本方面评估产品设计概念。开发的产品模块化方法源自与来自三个不同航天产品制造商公司的工业从业者的一系列研讨会收集的数据。该方法的实施在一个以重新设计卫星天线为特色的案例研究中得到了证明。