This book summarizes advances in a number of fundamental areas of optimization with application in engineering design. The selection of the 'best' or 'optimum' design has long been a major concern of designers and in recent years interest has grown in applying mathematical optimization techniques to design of large engineering and industrial systems, and in using the computer-aided design packages with optimization capabilities which are now available.

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive coverage of new developments in geometric dimensional tolerancing and statistical tolerancing, and to focus on the use of these techniques in a CAD/CAM/CMM environment. The authors explore and explain tolerancing from its history and fundamentals to state-of-the-art techniques. They also describe specialized applications of tolerancing in particular industries, inclduing automobiles, electronics and aerospace.

Despite advances in robot technology, in which industrial manipulators have replaced mechanisms, cam mechanisms still find important industrial applications in the textile, food processing and manufacturing industries. This book is a modern, up-to-date treatise on the important subject of cam synthesis. Cam mechanisms have been studied from different points of view, namely, kinematic synthesis, dynamic synthesis, analysis, design, optimization and manufacturing. This book is oriented to the kinematic synthesis of cam mechanisms in a unified framework, i.e. that spatial, spherical and planar cam mechanisms are integrated in the same formulation. Traditionally, the synthesis of the three types of cam mechanisms has been approached using independent formulations. With a unified formulation, both well known types of cam mechanisms, as well as novel cam mechanisms can be synthesized, as shown in the book. Moreover, since all the design parameters are considered in a unified framework, the optimization theory of cam mechanisms can be applied systematically, i.e. the criteria applied for the optimization of planar cam mechanisms, which can be found to some extent in the literature, can be complemented in order to provide general criteria for the optimization of spherical and spatial cam mechanisms. The underlying philosophy of the book has been to exploit sound mathematical and kinematical tools of analysis and synthesis that could be used only with the available current software and hardware. The approach and tools introduced in this book can assist the designer in producing a broad spectrum of mechanisms than those described in the book. This will be an invaluable reference for engineering designers.

Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology plays a key role in today's advanced manufacturing environment. To reduce the time to market, achieve zero defect quality the first time, and use available production and logistics resources effectively, product and design process knowledge covering the whole product life-cycle must be used throughout product design. Once generated, this intensive design knowledge should be made available to later life-cycle activities. Due to the increasing concern about global environmental issues and rapidly changing economical situation worldwide, design must exhibit high performance not only in quality and productivity, but also in life-cycle issues, including extended producer's liability. These goals require designers and engineers to use various kinds of design knowledge intensively during product design and to generate design information for use in later stages of the product life-cycle such as production, distribution, operation, maintenance, reclamation, and recycling. Therefore, future CAD systems must incorporate product and design process knowledge, which are not explicitly dealt with in the current systems, in their design tools and design object models.

Advances in Design examines recent advances and innovations in product design paradigms, methods, tools and applications. It presents fifty-two selected papers which were presented at the 14th CIRP International Design Seminar held in May 2004. This book will be bought by postgraduate and senior undergraduate students studying product design. It will also be of interest to researchers and practitioners working in the field of product design.