Can C-K theory apply to Knowledge-Based Engineering systems?

The aim of this study is to provide a framework for the development of an interactive system for assistance to collaborative design. This framework provides to designers a tool to formalise design knowledge in order to share and reuse the active resources of the design. The study of domain knowledge models was based on a new theory of design known as C-K theory (Hatchuel and Weil, 2002). This theory is based on the distinction between the concept space and the knowledge space in integrated design. It stipulates that design oscillates from one space to another by co-building the product and knowledge which supports it. In this paper, we implement DeSIgn with KnOwledge VERsioning (DISKOVER) knowledge models as an application of the C-K theory operators. Those models are based on three knowledge levels, which are split into a product models (concepts) and design process models, otherwise knowledge that describe the product. The impact of versioning on the instantiation of DISKOVER knowledge models to C-K design theory was also studied in this research.