Manfred Ohmer

Contact and Channel Model for Pairs of Working Surfaces

The elementary design model “Contact and Channel Model” (C&CM) is a new approach to the treatment of technical systems. It connects the abstract level of the function of a technical system with the detailed level of the system’s real shape. This connection is generated by the description of the areas relevant to the function of the system: the Working Surface Pairs and the Channel and Support Structures linking them. Basic hypotheses concerning C&CM are described in [9]. They define the connections between a pair of working surfaces and their linking channel and support structure. Two important hypotheses are that functions can only be generated in Working Surface Pairs and that the fulfilment of any technical function needs at least two Working Surface Pairs and a connecting Channel and Support Structure. In this paper, these two basic hypotheses are validated and explained by means of technical examples.

Evaluation of the element model "Working surface pairs & channel and support structures"

The total knowledge of mankind doubles in shorter and shorter time, currently about every third year. The quantity of the existing knowledge of mechanical engineering also increases rapidly. The duration of study must not prolongate, so at the Institute for Machine Design and Automotive Engineering (Institut fur Maschinenkonstruktionslehre und Kraftfahrzeugbau mkl) at the University of Karlsruhe the new Karlsruhe education model for industrial product development (Karlsruher Lehrmodell fur Produktentwicklung KaLeP) was introduced in 1999. It is continuously advanced by the experiences that are made at its application.