Robust Concurrent Concept Selection and System Synthesis

Author(s):  
Wei Chen ◽  
Janet K. Allen ◽  
Farrokh Mistree

Abstract In this paper, we introduce a concurrent approach to preliminary system design by using a modification of Taguchi’s method of robust design. It is possible to model interactions among component concept selections and synthesis of system variables. This approach also can improve computational efficiency and provide more design knowledge for the conceptual design of complex engineering systems. This technique is effective in dealing with both discrete and continuous variables simultaneously in design. We illustrate our approach by the preliminary design of a solar powered irrigation system. The selections of critical component concepts are integrated with the determination of system variables, i.e., the thermodynamic operating parameters.

1975 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-115
Author(s):  
B. Porter ◽  
J. H. Hibbert

The singular perturbation analysis of linear lumped-parameter vibrating systems presented in this note greatly facilitates the approximate determination of the natural frequencies and mode-shape vectors of complex engineering systems incorporating sub-sets of ‘small’ inertial elements. In this way it is shown that it is possible to retain in the analysis of such systems ‘small’ inertial elements which are frequently neglected in order to make tractable the vibration analysis of such systems by conventional methods.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Chen ◽  
J. K. Allen ◽  
F. Mistree

In this paper, we introduce a method for preliminary system configuration. Two steps are typically associated with preliminary system configuration, namely, selecting components that embody subsystems and then synthesizing the subsystems to create the system itself. We show how we can perform these two steps concurrently using a modification of Taguchi’s method of robust design. This method is effective in dealing with both discrete and continuous variables simultaneously. We illustrate the method for the preliminary design of a solar powered irrigation system. Our focus in this paper is on explaining our approach rather than on the results per se.


Improving the efficiency of life cycle management of capital construction projects using information modeling technologies is one of the important tasks of the construction industry. The paper presents an analysis of accumulated domestic practices, including the legal and regulatory framework, assessing the effectiveness of managing the implementation of investment construction projects and of complex and serial capital construction projects, as well as the life cycle management of especially dangerous technically complex and unique capital construction projects using information modeling technologies, especially capital construction projects, as well as their supporting and using systems, primarily in the nuclear and transport sectors. A review of modern approaches to assessing the effectiveness of life cycle management systems of complex engineering systems in relation to capital construction projects is carried out. The presented material will make it possible to formulate the basic principles and prospects of applying approaches to assessing the effectiveness of the life cycle management system of a capital construction project using information modeling technologies.


Author(s):  
Nicolás F. Soria ◽  
Mitchell K. Colby ◽  
Irem Y. Tumer ◽  
Christopher Hoyle ◽  
Kagan Tumer

In complex engineering systems, complexity may arise by design, or as a by-product of the system’s operation. In either case, the root cause of complexity is the same: the unpredictable manner in which interactions among components modify system behavior. Traditionally, two different approaches are used to handle such complexity: (i) a centralized design approach where the impacts of all potential system states and behaviors resulting from design decisions must be accurately modeled; and (ii) an approach based on externally legislating design decisions, which avoid such difficulties, but at the cost of expensive external mechanisms to determine trade-offs among competing design decisions. Our approach is a hybrid of the two approaches, providing a method in which decisions can be reconciled without the need for either detailed interaction models or external mechanisms. A key insight of this approach is that complex system design, undertaken with respect to a variety of design objectives, is fundamentally similar to the multiagent coordination problem, where component decisions and their interactions lead to global behavior. The design of a race car is used as the case study. The results of this paper demonstrate that a team of autonomous agents using a cooperative coevolutionary algorithm can effectively design a Formula racing vehicle.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 477-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin C.Y. Koh ◽  
Nicholas H.M. Caldwell ◽  
P. John Clarkson

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