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GENCRIT: A tool for knowledge-based critiquing in engineering design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2009

H. Shiva Kumar ,
S. Suresh ,
C. S. Krishnamoorthy ,
Steven J. Fenves  and
S. Rajeev
H. Shiva Kumar
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 600 036, India
S. Suresh
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 600 036, India
C. S. Krishnamoorthy
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 600 036, India
Steven J. Fenves
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, U.S.A.
S. Rajeev
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 600 036, India
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Abstract

This article poses the notion that it is possible and desirable to formalize and apply design critiques in a specialized framework. It describes GENCRIT, (GENeric CRItiquing Tool), one such framework for design critiquing. The article starts by highlighting the role of critics in the design process. It then goes on to bring out the need for a critic building tool, viz. that of aiding in the rapid development of multiple critics. GENCRIT combines knowledge-based techniques and a multifactor decision making model to develop an integrated approach to evaluation that encompasses a wide range of designs. Critics developed using GENCRIT evaluate candidate designs based on the critiquing knowledge provided by experts, give justifications for the evaluation, and suggest improvements. The working of GENCRIT is illustrated with two examples: a constructibility critic for reinforced concrete buildings and a bridge design critic.

Keywords

Design evaluationCollaborative designDesign critics
Type
Research Article
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , Summer 1994 , pp. 239 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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