Modularity is the degree to which a system is made up of relatively independent but interacting elements. Modularization is not necessarily a means of reducing intrinsic complexity of the system, but it is a means of effectively redistributing the total complexity across the system. High degree of modularization enable reductionist strategies of system development and is an effective mechanism for complexity redistribution that can be better managed by system developers by enabling design encapsulation. In this paper, we introduce a complexity attribution framework to enable consistent complexity accounting and management procedure and show that integrative complexity has a strong inverse relationship with system modularity and its implication on complexity management for engineered system design and development.
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ASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
August 6–9, 2017
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Design Engineering Division
- Computers and Information in Engineering Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5812-7
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Correlating Integrative Complexity With System Modularity
Kaushik Sinha,
Kaushik Sinha
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
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Eun Suk Suh,
Eun Suk Suh
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
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Olivier de Weck
Olivier de Weck
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
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Kaushik Sinha
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Eun Suk Suh
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Olivier de Weck
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Paper No:
DETC2017-67254, V02AT03A048; 8 pages
Published Online:
November 3, 2017
Citation
Sinha, K, Suh, ES, & de Weck, O. "Correlating Integrative Complexity With System Modularity." Proceedings of the ASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. Volume 2A: 43rd Design Automation Conference. Cleveland, Ohio, USA. August 6–9, 2017. V02AT03A048. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2017-67254
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