On the complementarity of TRIZ and axiomatic design: from decoupling objective to contradiction identification

Axiomatic Design (AD) has been recognized as a technique for enhancing the analytical capabilities in iterative design procedures, and as such can compliment the synthesis support offered by TRIZ. Identification of deficiencies in an existing design through AD, however, does not result in the straight forward formulation of contradictions between engineering parameters as a starting point for problem solving. Translating identified conflicts from the coupled design parameters, as identified by means of AD matrix analysis, to engineering parameter contradictions, often requires an intermediate step of abstraction. In this article this observation is illustrated by means of a case study dedicated to heavy duty laser cutting with reactive gas support. A systematic mapping of design specific, feature related, independent design parameters to dependent, concept related engineering parameters is proposed as a means to integrate both methodologies.