Using Features to Support Finite Element Idealizations
Abstract This paper describes how feature-based techniques can be used in a knowledge-based system to support finite element idealizations. Any system of this kind must have two important features. First, it must capture the experiential and heuristic knowledge used by expert analysts in making idealization decisions. Second, the system must be able to perform spatial reasoning about the finite element model being analyzed. The first requirement led us to incorporate knowledge-based reasoning in the idealization systems. We chose the formalism of “features” to capture the spatial reasoning because expert analysts often describe the idealization process in terms of removing / modifying features (such as holes, slots, notches, etc.) and their spatial properties.