Physical contradictions

The new approach to crack theory used in the book is intriguing in that it fails to lead to physical contradictions. Given a classical approach to the description of cracks in elastic bodies, the boundary conditions on crack faces are known to be considered as equations. In a number of specific cases there is no difflculty in finding solutions of such problems leading to physical contradictions. It is precisely these crack faces for such solutions that penetrate each other. Boundary conditions analysed in the book are given in the form of inequalities, and they are properly nonpenetration conditions of crack faces. The above implies that similar problems may be considered from the contact mechanics standpoint. 

Thus, attempts to extend the London theory to distances at which (5.20) is violated must lead to unphysical (non-Hermitian) perturbation corrections, with increasingly severe mathematical and physical contradictions. These difficulties are in contrast to the corresponding NBO-based decomposition (5.8), which remains Pauli-compliant and Hermitian at all distances. 

An example of a technical contradiction is provided by an automobile airbag, which needs to deploy very fast in order to protect the occupant (good) but the faster it deploys the more likely it is to kill small people (bad). An example of a physical contradiction is provided by coffee that should be hot to be enjoyable but cold enough not to scald the customer. 

Review each cell in the matrix and discuss the merits of joining the two characteristics. Eliminate cells that contain existing ideas or don t make sense (such as spa services and in-seat chargers). However, don t immediately discard ideas because they contain technical or physical contradictions you may be able to get past the contradictions using Structured Abstraction (Technique 23) or Separation Principles (Technique 24). 

Reparation Principles helps when some physical contradiction stands between you and an innovation, and you need to resolve the conflict with minimal or no tradeoff. For example, you need the water in the system to be hot for some functions but cold for others. Or you want all the information to make a good management decision, but you don t want all the information because you don t have time to sift through it. 

Use the Separation Principles technique when you ve identihed a physical contradiction, and when other ideation techniques may have fallen short of resolving it. You may need the help of an expert to apply Separation Principles, depending on the nature of your innovation project and its difficulty level. 

The four Separation Principles—time, space, scale, and condition—can be applied in an endless number of circumstances. To help you determine which principle could resolve your physical contradiction, consider the following ... 

First carry forward the contradictory element or characteristic of your physical contradiction from step 2. This is the characteristic X that must meet the self-opposing requirements. 

Next, define the time period of the physical contradiction as ... 

This technique comes in handy when the innovation opportunity is (a) well-defined and (b) contains at least one technical contradiction (see Structured Abstraction, Technique 23) or physical contradiction (see Separation Principles, Technique 24). Unless you re well-versed in the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), you will need special assistance from an expert to properly apply this technique. Several U.S. and U.K. organizations can help (see resource list at the end of this technique). 

Also look for technical or physical contradictions that could cause defects or errors (see Structured Abstraction, Technique 23), and Separation Principles, Technique 24), for more information about contradictions). 

These TRIZ stages/tools can be classified as tools for model of problem and tools for model of solution as shown in Fig. 7.6. There are four classes of model of problem—namely, engineering contradiction, physical contradiction, function model, and substance-field model. For the model of solutions, we have the specific inventive principles, specific scientific effect, and specific standard inventive solution. The bridge between the problem and the solution is the TRIZ tools such as contradiction matrix, separation/satisfaction bypass, scientific effects, and system... 

A physical contradiction occurs when a single physical (or quantitative) characteristic of an engineering system should increase and... 

A technical contradiction may be also interpreted as a technical trade-off, for example, a trade-off between the safety and the maximum speed of a car. A physical contradiction may be understood as a contradictory requirement, for example, a temperature that is simultaneously >25 F° and < 14 F°. 

Both car characteristics are dependent on the height and width of the car. When, for example, the car s width is considered, it should be maximized to increase the luggage capacity and should be minimized to improve the fuel consumption. We have here a physical contradiction associated with the car s width, with a single numerical/quantita-tive characteristic of our system. 

The same situation may be considered in terms of the structural depth of the beam, that is, in terms of one of the dimensions that is represented by a numerical attribute and is usually measured in inches (or centimeters). In order to increase the rigidity, the designer needs to increase this dimension. However, when he wants to decrease the weight (both desirable results), he needs to decrease the same dimension. We have here a physical contradiction regarding the structural depth (height) of the beam. It is a contradiction associated only with a single and specific/quantitative characteristic of our system. 

Table 9.1 Comparison of features of technical and physical contradictions ...

Sometimes we simply want to invent through the elimination of a specific physical contradiction. It can be done using 11 Separation Principles (Altshuller et al. 1999), which are defined thus ... 

Separation Principles is a collection of 11 heuristics that is necessary and sufficient to eliminate all possible Physical Contradictions in inventive conceptual designing. 

Each technical contradiction can be transformed into the related physical contradiction. 

Analysis of Contradictions G.S. Altshuller (1984) distinguished between the following three types of contradictions administrative contradictions, technical contradictions, and physical contradictions. The two last types are of interest in this definition. 

Physical contradictions The physical contradiction implies inconsistent requirements to a physical condition of the same element of a Technical System (TS) or operation of a Technological Process (TP). For example, we want that an insulator in semiconductor chips has low dielectric constant k in order to reduce parasitic capacities and we want that insulator in semiconductor chips has high dielectric constant k in order to store information better. 

Physical contradictions as well as technical contradictions are usually crystallized during the problem analysis. Sometimes technical contradictions can be obtained by analysis techniques such as in the Root Cause Analysis framework or Goldratt s Theory of Constraints (Wilson et al. 1993). 

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