Component integration (CI) is defined as a redesign process of combining several components into a single component, which is made of a single material and still satisfies the requirements of the original components. The concept of CI has been employed in several product design methods to make manufacturing cheaper, better, and faster. However, none of them provide the critical information needed to select the appropriate components for integration. To overcome this shortage, a methodology is developed in this paper to answer the question: Which groups of components are theoretically feasible for CI (feasible component integration sets or FCIS)? This methodology includes two models: (I) an assembly representation model, and (2) the FCIS search model. Three representation tools are designed in the former model to capture different types of assembly information that is necessary for decision-making in the latter model. In the FCIS search model, three Design for Assembly (DFA) checking rules are converted into four CI constraints to guide the FCIS identification. In addition, the AND/OR graph and constraint checking technique are applied to search all the FCISs. Finally, an illustrative example is used to demonstrate the capability of this CI methodology.
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