Integration of MBSE and Virtual Engineering for Detailed Design

Presented by: Akshay KandeAdvisor: Dr. Steven Corns

Missouri University of Science & Technology

Towards Creating an Integrated Development Environment for

Engineering Systems

Complexity

Systems Engineering

Model Based Systems Engineering

Virtual Engineering

Objectives• Creating a seamless integration of MBSE and

detail design tools to– Manage complexity– Help engineers to make informed decisions– Execute engineering models– Understand potential impacts of changing design

parameters

ComplexityA property by which behavior of elements gets

interconnected in such a way that changes made no longer have effects limited to the local area.

Latin word plexus – interwoven

Complexity and Systems Engineering

• Later was first introduced to satisfy the demands of systems with– increased performance capabilities – reduced cost – Short development time

Systems engineering provides a systematic way to manage complex engineering ventures that consists of highly interconnected subsystems

Systems Engineering Process

Effective management of Information flow remains one of the key drivers to the success of the systems engineering activity

Sanford Friedenthal, Alan Moore, Rick Steiner, A Practical Guide to SysML: The Systems Modeling Language, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 2008.

Traditional ApproachRequirements

System Functions

System Design

Document Centric Method

…….

…….

Drawbacks• Large collection of individual documents• Difficulty in maintaining consistency• Extraction of relevant information becomes

cumbersome• Difficulty to maintain the most updated

document

Model Based Systems Engineering

INCOSE defines MBSE as,“Formalized application of modeling to support system

requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout the development and later life cycle phases.”

Model Based Systems Engineering

In MBSE, models are used to represent • Structural• Operational• Behavioral characteristics of the system being developed

MBSE (Contd.)• Typical MBSE environment consists of

following elements– Modeling Language– Modeling Tool

Systems Modeling Language

• General purpose modeling language• Developed by the OMG group • Supports model based systems engineering• Extension of Unified Modeling Language(UML)• Supports design, analysis, verification and

validation of systems

SysML Diagram Types

http://www.omgsysml.org/

Systems Modeling Language

• Limitations– Models lack self execution capability– Dependence on external analysis tools– Lack of executable architecture framework

Extending Capabilities

•How do we provide the detailed design & analysis capabilities?

•How do we enhance decision making?

Design & Analysis

tools

Proposed Solution• Virtual Engineering

– A means for creating a representation of physical system in a computer generated virtual environment

– Gives designers the ability to interrogate a system and observe how it reacts to design changes

– Provides an accessible visual format to present information in a manner that is of value to all the stakeholders

VE-Suite• Open-source virtual engineering software package • Developed for engineering analysis and design of complex

systems in a virtual environment• Provides a highly integrated virtual environment where the

results of engineering models such as – CAD, – Finite element analysis, – Computational fluid dynamics

can be displayed in a single environment

VE-Suite Architecture

User Interface

Computational unit

Graphical engine

Virtual Systems Modeling Approach

Methodology

VE-Suite Model Structure Composition

Methodology (Contd.)

Analysis Model Structure in SysML

Model Structure Analogy

Modeling Methodology

Profile is a mechanism to extend capabilities of modeling languages to suit domain requirements

Modeling Methodology

Simulation block

VE-UI

Design parameters and time constraints

Constraint block

VE-Unit

Parametric equations

System Structure

VE-GP

CAD model References

MBSE Tool

The model organization created in the MBSE tool allows the code to be readily available for compilation to create the Plugins for VE-Suite.

Example Model• Fermentor: Used in the bio-processing industry for producing

compounds such as citric acid and ethanol

Layout of the Fermentor model

Model development in SysMLbdd [Package] Fermenter structure[Fermenter System Components]

«block»Fermenter

«block»

valuesagitation in rpm : double

Impeller drive system

«block»

valuesair conc : doublenitrate conc : double

Feeding system«block»Gauges

«block»

valuescitric conc : doubleinitial pH : doubletemperature : double

Tank1

1

Digital gauges1

1

Feeder

1

1

Agitator 1

1

Mixer

bdd [Package] Fermenter structure[Fermenter System Components]

«block»Fermenter

«block»

valuesagitation in rpm : double

Impeller drive system

«block»

valuesair conc : doublenitrate conc : double

Feeding system«block»Gauges

«block»

valuescitric conc : doubleinitial pH : doubletemperature : double

Tank1

1

Digital gauges1

1

Feeder

1

1

Agitator 1

1

Mixer

Value properties that depict the quantifiable characteristics of the blocks. These quantities also represent the input and output parameters considered in the experiment.

Defining Constraints for Analysis

Constraints used for calculating the citric acid concentration defined using SysML construct

Analysis Model in SysML

Parametric Model

Parametric diagram relating structural and simulation properties

Adding VE Models• Three main VE-Suite Components for

fermentor in MBSE environment:– FermentorUI– FermentorUnit– FermentorGP

Each VE-Suite module in the MBSE environment is composed of operations specific to the Plugin it has to create

Using CAD models• Architecture of Computer Aided Design (CAD) models

is used to represent the system being developed• Part properties of the fermentor system model are

referenced with individual CAD files that represent their structure

• Done using an UML operation to read data from the CAD file using OSG function

Fermentor Analysis Modelbdd [Package] Fermentor Analysis[calculating acid concentration]

«block»Fermentor Analysis

«block»

valuestimeInput : doubleacid yieldOutput : doubleagitationInput : doubleair_concInput : doubleinitialpHinput : doubleNitrate_concInput : do ...TempInput : double

Simulation

«block»Fermentor

«constraint»Eqnstocalculateacidicyield

«block»«VES»

operationsFermentorUI ()GetVersion ()GetConductorName ()GetName ()UI ()~FermentorUI ()

FermentorUI

«block»«VES»

FermentorUnit

«block»«VES»

operationsVEFermentorGra ...~VEFermentorGr ...InitializeNode (in ...PreFrameUpdate ()ProcessOnSubmi ...UpdateGauges (i ...

FermentorGP

«block»

operationsReadCADdataandIntialize ()

Tank

«block»

operationsReadCADdataandI ...

Impellerdrivesystem

«block»

operationsReadCADdataa ...

Feedingsystem«block»

operationsReadCADdataa ...

Gauges

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

bdd [Package] Fermentor Analysis[calculating acid concentration]

«block»Fermentor Analysis

«block»

valuestimeInput : doubleacid yieldOutput : doubleagitationInput : doubleair_concInput : doubleinitialpHinput : doubleNitrate_concInput : do ...TempInput : double

Simulation

«block»Fermentor

«constraint»Eqnstocalculateacidicyield

«block»«VES»

operationsFermentorUI ()GetVersion ()GetConductorName ()GetName ()UI ()~FermentorUI ()

FermentorUI

«block»«VES»

FermentorUnit

«block»«VES»

operationsVEFermentorGra ...~VEFermentorGr ...InitializeNode (in ...PreFrameUpdate ()ProcessOnSubmi ...UpdateGauges (i ...

FermentorGP

«block»

operationsReadCADdataandIntialize ()

Tank

«block»

operationsReadCADdataandI ...

Impellerdrivesystem

«block»

operationsReadCADdataa ...

Feedingsystem«block»

operationsReadCADdataa ...

Gauges

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Fermentor Output in VE-Suite

Discussion and Closure• Use of model based engineering adds modularity,

reusability and easy maintainability of design information

• SysML covers varying aspects of systems engineering activity by providing easy to use graphical constructs

• A complete model traceability can be maintained using relationship semantics

However, lack of self execution capabilities renders it to rely on external analysis tools for detail design

Virtual Systems Modeling Approach• Potential of SysML to manage information complexity

can be used in conjunction with executable detailed design models

• Enhanced decision making capabilities• System performance can be tested for different

combination of parameter values• Maintain consistency while executing analysis models

Future Work• The example model defines the creation of a user

defined computation unit which is one among the numerous capabilities that VE platform offers. Future work shall be – To use high fidelity models in conjunction with

systems engineering data– To streamline the integration process by porting

the auto-code generation API into a VE-Suite interface

Thank You