System and method for describing a component in a computer-aided design (CAD) environment

A computer implemented method for augmenting a three-dimensional model of a gas turbine engine component in a computer-aided design (CAD) environment, the method comprising:

• receiving a three-dimensional CAD model of the component, the three-dimensional CAD model including a plurality of component surfaces;
• generating a first surface representation of a first component surface of the plurality of component surfaces;
• generating a second surface representation of a second component surface of the plurality of component surfaces which is different than the first component surface;
• indexing, on a computer, the first surface representation as a first function-attributed surface (FAS) element by assigning the first surface representation a unique first FAS ID which associates the first FAS element with the component and indexing the second surface representation as a second FAS element by assigning the second surface representation a unique second FAS ID, different than the unique first FAS ID, which associates the second FAS element with the component;
• storing, on one or more memory devices, a product manufacturing information (PMI) for the first FAS element as a first FAS dataset in a FAS database, wherein the PMI includes contextual information including one of stress peak area, airflow direction of the first component surface, stack-up information, life cycle information, repair information, or information gathered during component operation;
• assigning the unique first FAS ID to the first FAS dataset;
• generating a graphical user interface displayed on a touch screen;
• receiving at least a portion of the PMI from a user via the graphical user interface displayed on the touch screen;
• and
• manufacturing the modeled gas turbine engine component, with a manufacturing equipment, based on the three-dimensional CAD model;
• wherein the unique first FAS ID and the unique second FAS ID are based on a hierarchical tree referring to one or more features of the three-dimensional CAD model;
• and
• wherein the generating the first three-dimensional surface representation, the indexing the first surface representation as the first FAS element, and the indexing the second surface representation as the second FAS element are performed simultaneously.