Abstract The goals of this research are (1) giving a clear image of the functional reasoning research through identifying common core, formalizing underlying assumptions and defining problems to be tackled; (2) developing methods for deriving and explaining function of devices from a formal description of their structure and behavior using Functional Reasoning (FR); and (3) applying the FR techniques to real world engineering problems such as functional design of devices. A collective view on FR theories and techniques is presented, common assumptions and basic problems are identified. Qualitative Function Formation (QFF) technique is introduced. Some novel points are extending the common qualitative models to include interactions and timing of events, by defining coordinative relations and temporal and dependency constraints, and binding it with the conventional qualitative simulation. A function concept is defined as an interpretation of a persistence or an order in the sequence of qualitative states, using the trace of the qualitative state vector derived by simulation on the extended qualitative model. Application of QFF in functional design of devices is demonstrated.

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