Ontology first appeared as a branch of philosophy together
with epistemology. It is always said that ontology “curve the
world at its joints,” for it is the science of the things that exist,
including the natures, the properties, the characters, and the
relations of the objects in reality [12]. It is radically different from
epistemology, which is exploring the way to get a deeper
understanding of the nature of existence. Inspired by the explicit
specification of a conceptualization [13], ontology-based design
is attempted to have a quick construction of design scheme taking
relation as joint tie and an easy-information-sharing platform
based on well-structured domain knowledge. A good example is
function–behavior–structure (FBS) design prototype proposed
by Gero, in 1990 [14]. The design prototype brings in all the
related knowledge together for product design [15], [16]. While
its aim is to match the expectation of a designer who uses
computational process, the design prototype is more or less
guided by “Design for Manufacturing” design methodology.
However, the FBS design prototype will not meet the