A decision support architecture for polymer composites design: implementations and evolution

Herein lies a tour through the development of an architecture for polymer composite material design. The initial structure of the architecture is presented along with its underlying ideas. Being preliminary, this system was confined in its coverage of the domain, leading to the expansion of coverage in the next generation. However, it was realized that this implementation as well as the ideology behind it were incapable of fully addressing the complexities of material design. A methodology/ideology demarcation line can be drawn at this point, as the next system implemented a new approach called multiple design. With essentially the same depth as the previous system, this new system generated a family of designs, instead of the first best design. The most recent system was then implemented to substantially increase the domain coverage and fine-tune the knowledge organization. Throughout the growth and development of the material design methodology, the overall vision for polymer composites design has evolved as well