Function-based method for classifying and fusing system behavior information in product development

A method of automatically developing an ontology for product function and failure mode documentation for an apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

• identifying the apparatus;
• generating a function-flow model for the identified apparatus for identifying a composite structure of the apparatus;
• enumerating functions associated with the identified apparatus;
• enumerating failure modes for the enumerated apparatus functions;
• obtaining failure data from a plurality of heterogeneous data sources;
• applying a semantic similarity module to the enumerated failures by comparing a plurality of documents between heterogeneous data sources, the semantic similarity module bridging a variety of terms used in the heterogeneous data to describe a respective failure;
• extracting failures associated with the enumerated apparatus functions from the plurality of documents between heterogeneous data sources;
• generating a composite of related terminology for each identified failure mode;
• and
• generating a failure mode information document utilizing the composite of related terminology for each identified failure mode.