ABSTRACT
There are a large number of iterative modifications in engineering systems design. The traditional serial design is accomplished by model accumulation and modifications, which may result in correlative modifications of both models and drawings, times without number, owing to the size change of some parts of the system. To achieve higher efficiency and quality of the design of engineering systems, the top-down method of the model-based definition was proposed, including the theoretical model of the top-down design method, design information transfer flow, control structure factors and the collaborative design method in a PDM system. An application of the rocket model design in this top-down method was given. The application validates that the top-down method can reduce unnecessary iterative modifications and can achieve greater efficiency in the design process.
