Design Process Of New Products Research Articles

Combatting over-specialization bias in growing chemical databases

BackgroundPredicting in advance the behavior of new chemical compounds can support the design process of new products by directing the research toward the most promising candidates and ruling out others. Such predictive models can be data-driven using Machine Learning or based on researchers’ experience and depend on the collection of past results. In either case: models (or researchers) can only make reliable assumptions about compounds that are similar to what they have seen before. Therefore, consequent usage of these predictive models shapes the dataset and causes a continuous specialization shrinking the applicability domain of all trained models on this dataset in the future, and increasingly harming model-based exploration of the space.Proposed solutionIn this paper, we propose cancels (CounterActiNg Compound spEciaLization biaS), a technique that helps to break the dataset specialization spiral. Aiming for a smooth distribution of the compounds in the dataset, we identify areas in the space that fall short and suggest additional experiments that help bridge the gap. Thereby, we generally improve the dataset quality in an entirely unsupervised manner and create awareness of potential flaws in the data. cancels does not aim to cover the entire compound space and hence retains a desirable degree of specialization to a specified research domain.ResultsAn extensive set of experiments on the use-case of biodegradation pathway prediction not only reveals that the bias spiral can indeed be observed but also that cancels produces meaningful results. Additionally, we demonstrate that mitigating the observed bias is crucial as it cannot only intervene with the continuous specialization process, but also significantly improves a predictor’s performance while reducing the number of required experiments. Overall, we believe that cancels can support researchers in their experimentation process to not only better understand their data and potential flaws, but also to grow the dataset in a sustainable way. All code is available under github.com/KatDost/Cancels.

Virtual proving ground for aircraft structures

This paper presents an approach to development of complexes and programs of virtual experimental investigation in order to reduce full-scale testing in the design process of new products via state-of-the-art computer simulation techniques. Generally Virtual Proving Ground (VPG) is to be understood as integrating system for modeling strategies, solver settings, modules of automatic post-processing and load cases that match typical airplane tests and operating conditions. In the VPG environment has been developed a set Virtual Test Beds corresponding to tasks from various technical areas: ● VTB «Static structural strength» for virtual static strength tests to determine the stress-strain state of the structure and identify potentially critical places; ● VTB «Fatigue» for estimating fatigue life under the influence of a multi-cycle load; ● VTB «Durability» for simulating crack growth in the most critical places based on VTB «Fatigue» and «Static structural strength» data; ● VTB «Birdstrike» for simulating tests of bird collisions with aircraft panels; ● VTB «Hailstrike» for simulating tests of hailstones collisions with aircraft panels; ● VTB «Aerodynamics» for determining the aerodynamic characteristics of an aircraft. Preliminary estimation of structure is possible due to automatic post-processing module: visualization of virtual testing, documentation of results (graphs, pictures, key values) and union of all experimental data into a presentation. The application of presented approach is described on example of stringer panel of a real airplane.

Mechanical discrete simulator of the electro-mechanical lift with n:1 roping

The design process of new products in lift engineering is a difficult task due to, mainly, the complexity and slenderness of the lift system, demanding a predictive tool for the lift mechanics. A mechanical ad-hoc discrete simulator, as an alternative to ‘general purpose’ mechanical simulators is proposed. Firstly, the synthesis and experimentation process that has led to establish a suitable model capable of simulating accurately the response of the electromechanical lift is discussed. Then, the equations of motion are derived. The model comprises a discrete system of 5 vertically displaceable masses (car, counterweight, car frame, passengers/loads and lift drive), an inertial mass of the assembly tension pulley-rotor shaft which can rotate about the machine axis and 6 mechanical connectors with 1:1 suspension layout. The model is extended to any n:1 roping lift by setting 6 equivalent mechanical components (suspension systems for car and counterweight, lift drive silent blocks, tension pulley-lift drive stator and passengers/load equivalent spring-damper) by inductive inference from 1:1 and generalized 2:1 roping system. The application to simulate real elevator systems is proposed by numeric time integration of the governing equations using the Kutta-Meden algorithm and implemented in a computer program for ad-hoc elevator simulation called ElevaCAD.

Software design to calculate and simulate the mechanical response of electromechanical lifts

Lift engineers and lift companies which are involved in the design process of new products or in the research and development of improved components demand a predictive tool of the lift slender system response before testing expensive prototypes. A method for solving the movement of any specified lift system by means of a computer program is presented. The mechanical response of the lift operating in a user defined installation and configuration, for a given excitation and other configuration parameters of real electric motors and its control system, is derived. A mechanical model with 6 degrees of freedom is used. The governing equations are integrated step by step through the Meden-Kutta algorithm in the MATLAB platform. Input data consists on the set point speed for a standard trip and the control parameters of a number of controllers and lift drive machines. The computer program computes and plots very accurately the vertical displacement, velocity, instantaneous acceleration and jerk time histories of the car, counterweight, frame, passengers/loads and lift drive in a standard trip between any two floors of the desired installation. The resulting torque, rope tension and deviation of the velocity plot with respect to the setpoint speed are shown. The software design is implemented in a demo release of the computer program called ElevaCAD. Further on, the program offers the possibility to select the configuration of the lift system and the performance parameters of each component. In addition to the overall system response, detailed information of transients, vibrations of the lift components, ride quality levels, modal analysis and frequency spectrum (FFT) are plotted.

Concurrent Engineering and its Key Technologies of Product Design

Under the intense market environment, concurrent engineering is considered to be an effective method to improve product competitiveness by more and more enterprises. As a new product development mode, it directly accelerates the design process of new products. Based on introducing the basic concepts of concurrent engineering, this paper discussed its key technologies in detail, such as process reconfiguration, DFX, PDM, CAX and TQM.

Vers une meilleure collaboration des acteurs du processus de conception de produit

The design process of new products is mainly characterised by the uncertainty of the exchanged data and by iterations risks which are the sources of delay and additional costs in design. To cop with these problems, one solution consists of improving the collaboration between designers. The characterisation of exchanged information maturity is of prime importance for design activity execution. This paper presents a first analysis toward the improvement of collaborative design process taking into account the maturity of exchanged information. We propose a characterisation of collaborative design situations, a characterisation of exchanged information and a description of the collaborative design framework.