A framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry

I.O Sanya,E.M Shehab

doi:10.1080/00207543.2014.965352

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry. The aim of this approach is to strengthen the modularity and reuse of engineering design ontologies to support knowledge management initiatives within the aerospace industry. Successful development and effective utilisation of engineering ontologies strongly depends on the method/framework used to develop them. Ensuring modularity in ontology design is essential for engineering design activities due to the complexity of knowledge that is required to be brought together to support the product design decision-making process. The proposed approach adopts best practices from previous ontology development methods, but focuses on encouraging modular architectural ontology design. The framework is comprised of three phases namely: (1) Ontology design and development; (2) Ontology validation and (3) Implementation of ontology structure. A qualitative research methodology is employed which is composed of four phases. The first phase defines the capture of knowledge required for the framework development, followed by the ontology framework development, iterative refinement of engineering ontologies and ontology validation through case studies and experts’ opinion. The ontology-based framework is applied in the combustor and casing aerospace engineering domain. The modular ontologies developed as a result of applying the framework and are used in a case study to restructure and improve the accessibility of information on a product design information-sharing platform. Additionally, domain experts within the aerospace industry validated the strengths, benefits and limitations of the framework. Due to the modular nature of the developed ontologies, they were also employed to support other project initiatives within the case study company such as role-based computing (RBC), IT modernisation activity and knowledge management implementation across the sponsoring organisation. The major benefit of this approach is in the reduction of man-hours required for maintaining engineering design ontologies. Furthermore, this approach strengthens reuse of ontology knowledge and encourages modularity in the design and development of engineering ontologies.

Highlights

Within engineering design, the art of managing knowledge effectively is rapidly becoming an exciting and vibrant field of practice as aerospace organisations are realising that knowledge is the key to performance (Firestone and McElroy 2003)
This paper presents a framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry
This research study has presented a framework for encouraging modular architecture design for aerospace engineering design ontologies

Summary

Introduction

The art of managing knowledge effectively is rapidly becoming an exciting and vibrant field of practice as aerospace organisations are realising that knowledge is the key to performance (Firestone and McElroy 2003). In recent years, the engineering community (i.e. researchers and industry experts) has developed increased interest in the creation and maintenance of engineering ontologies to support the management of knowledge within engineering activities (Kitamura and Mizoguchi 2007; Dadzie et al 2008; Hawker 2010; Lin et al 2010). Though many methods and frameworks exist for developing and maintaining ontologies, there is still no clear link between ontology development frameworks and aerospace engineering design activities. There is a need to utilise best practices from other ontology development methods and establish a framework linking ontology development to

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