Multidisciplinary Collaborative Design Research Articles

Multidisciplinary Collaborative Design Optimization of Electric Shovel Working Devices

The development of the open-pit mining industry has set higher performance standards for mining electric shovels. Addressing issues such as low efficiency, high energy consumption, and high failure rates in working mining electric shovel devices, this paper comprehensively considers bulk mechanics, structural mechanics, and dynamics to conduct a multidisciplinary, collaborative design optimization for electric shovels by introducing the BLISCO method, which is based on an approximated model, into the structural-optimization design process of working electric shovel devices, aiming to enhance the overall performance of electric shovels. Firstly, a dynamic model of an electric shovel is established to analyze the hoist force and crowd force during the excavation process, and an accurate load input for the dynamic analysis is provided through the bulk material mechanics model. Additionally, to ensure that the stiffness of the boom meets the requirements, the maximum stress at the most critical position of the optimized boom is considered. Subsequently, the design variables are screened through experimental design, and an approximate model is established. Focusing on the hoist force, crowd force, maximum stress at the critical position of the boom, and the angle between the dipper arm and the wire rope, a mathematical model is constructed and optimized using a two-level integrated system co-optimization framework based on an approximate model (BLISCO-AM), followed by a simulation. Finally, a test bench for the electric shovel working device is constructed to compare pre- and post-optimization performance. Experimental results show that through the optimized design, the hoist force and crowd force required in a single excavation process are reduced by 6% and 8.48%, respectively, and the maximum angle between the wire rope and the dipper arm is increased by 4%, significantly improving excavation efficiency while ensuring the safety and reliability of the equipment.

BIM-Based Building Performance Simulation Analysis: A Multi-Parameter-Driven Approach to Building Energy Efficiency and Carbon Reduction

Global warming and other environmental problems are increasing the demand for high-performance buildings. The development of high-performance computers and building information models has a significant impact on buildings’ energy simulation. High-performance building design needs to comprehensively consider geography, climate, material, cost and other factors which is a highly complex multidisciplinary research problem. Therefore, it is urgent to use advanced modeling and simulation technology to realize it, involving Building Information Modelling (BIM), parametric design and cloud platform. Comprehensive simulation of building performance refers to a multidisciplinary collaborative design, and the correlation between research objects and parameters should be achieved by complex programming design. This study integrates BIM, computer, cloud computing and other technologies to simulate BIM-based building energy consumption performance. Based on project information, geometry information and physical properties exhibited by materials stored in BIM model, the energy analysis model is created. Revit–Dynamo API functions are employed to generate a novel BIM model in Revit after automatically changing and transferring user-defined parameters. BIM energy consumption model is converted into Green Building eXtended Markup Language (GBXML) file and uploaded to Green Building Studio (GBS) cloud server. The optimal project solution is yielded by retrieving the energy consumption simulation results of BIM models with a range of parameters. The case study shows that building volume, glass material, window-wall ratio and window height have significant influence on energy consumption targets of buildings. In hot-summer and cold-winter areas, the total energy consumption of glass materials with high insulation and reflection coefficient is small. The window size slightly impacts the annual lighting energy consumption, but it has significant influence on the annual air conditioning energy consumption, with a maximum increase of about 22%. Finally, the application advantages and limitations of the framework in high-performance building design and its application prospects in energy-saving building design are discussed.

A collaborative multidisciplinary design methodology for additive manufacturing with a left-handed mouse as a case study

A collaborative multidisciplinary design methodology for additive manufacturing with a left-handed mouse as a case study

Designer Selection for Complex Engineering System Design Projects Considering the Disciplines Demanded

Currently, technological advances and developments are leading to the rapid emergence of high-end technology products, accompanied by a variety of customer requirements, which will lead to engineering system design projects becoming more complex. Therefore, complex engineering design projects require designers with multidisciplinary backgrounds who can work together and approach complex problems. However, when company supervisors assign designers with interdisciplinary knowledge to complex projects, the knowledge gap of each discipline between designers will cause communication conflicts, which directly affects the efficiency of team communication and complex project execution. Therefore, it is very important for the design company to select a portfolio of designers with efficient interdisciplinary background communication. Thus, the main objective of our research is to propose a method to support company supervisors and their approach to the design team selection problem for complex engineering system design projects with consideration of the project’s required basic technical competence, personal competence, and multidisciplinary knowledge communication between the designers. The proposed method can help design firms to select the best multidisciplinary collaborative design team for complex engineering system design projects.

Toward artificially intelligent cloud-based building information modelling for collaborative multidisciplinary design

The technological tools people use for designing buildings have progressed from drawings to descriptive geometry, and from computer-aided drafting and design (CAD) to building information modelling (BIM). Yet despite their use of state-of-the-art BIM technology, the multidisciplinary teams that design modern buildings still face numerous challenges. Building models lack sufficient semantic content to properly express design intent, concurrent design is difficult due to the need for operators to maintain model consistency and integrity manually, managing design variations is cumbersome due to the packaging of information in files, and collaboration requires making-do with imperfect interoperability between application software. In response, we propose a ‘Cloud BIM’ (CBIM) approach to building modelling that seeks to automate maintenance of consistency across federated discipline-specific models by enriching models with semantic information that encapsulates design intent. The approach requires a new ontology to represent knowledge about the relationships between building model objects within and across disciplines. Discipline-specific building models are stored together with their data schema in knowledge graphs, and linked using objects and relationships from the CBIM ontology. The links are established using artificially intelligent semantic enrichment methods that recognize patterns of location, geometry, topology and more. Software methods that operate along CBIM relationship chains can detect inconsistencies that arise across disciplines and act to inform users, propose meaningful corrections, and apply them if approved. Future CBIM systems may provide designers with the functionality for collaborative multidisciplinary design by maintaining model consistency and managing versioning at the object level.

From System Architecting to System Design and Optimization: A Link Between MBSE and MDAO

AbstractOptimization of system architectures can help deal with finding better system architectures in a large design space plagued by combinatorial explosion of alternatives. To enable architecture optimization, the design space should therefore be formalized into a numerical optimization problem, and it should be possible to quantitatively evaluate architecture alternatives. This paper presents a methodology for generating and modeling architecture design spaces using the Architecture Design Space Graph (ADSG), and using collaborative Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) techniques to evaluate architectures. Collaborative MDAO leverages disciplinary expertise while ensuring that analysis tools exchange data consistently and correctly using a central data schema. The problem solved in this paper is the missing link between architecture optimization and collaborative MDAO: the reflection of generated architectures in the central data schema. It is solved by the authors by mapping architecture components and Quantities of Interest (QOIs) to the central data schema using Data Schema Operations (DSOs). Such a mapping also assists the user in identifying missing or unnecessary disciplinary analysis tools. Three web‐based software tools implementing the methodology are presented. Finally, the methodology and tools are demonstrated using the design of a supersonic business jet as an example.

Multidisciplinary Collaborative Design and Optimization of Turbine Rotors Considering Aleatory and Interval Mixed Uncertainty under a SORA Framework

The turbine rotor is the key component of the turbine, which has a great impact on the construction cost and power generation efficiency of an entire hydropower station. Receiving the torque of the runner transmission and completing the specified power generation is its main function. There are many uncertain factors in the design, manufacture, and operation environment of a turbine rotor. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the mechanism on the premise of ensuring that the mechanical system meets high reliability and high safety levels. This article uses the multidisciplinary reliability analysis and optimization method under random and interval uncertainty to quantitatively analyze the uncertainty factors, and then optimally solves the RBMDO problem of the turbine rotor mechanism. Through the finite element simulation analysis of the optimized design scheme, the rationality and feasibility of the obtained results are further verified.

A digital twin-based multidisciplinary collaborative design approach for complex engineering product development

With the ever-increasing demand for personalized product functions, product structure becomes more and more complex. To design a complex engineering product, it involves mechanical, electrical, automation and other relevant fields, which requires a closer multidisciplinary collaborative design (MCD) and integration. However, the traditional design method lacks multidisciplinary coordination, which leads to interaction barriers between design stages and disconnection between product design and prototype manufacturing. To bridge the gap, a novel digital twin-enabled MCD approach is proposed. Firstly, the paper explores how to converge the MCD into the digital design process of complex engineering products in a cyber-physical system manner. The multidisciplinary collaborative design is divided into three parts: multidisciplinary knowledge collaboration, multidisciplinary collaborative modeling and multidisciplinary collaborative simulation, and the realization methods are proposed for each part. To be able to describe the complex product in a virtual environment, a systematic MCD framework based on the digital twin is further constructed. Integrate multidisciplinary collaboration into three stages: conceptual design, detailed design and virtual verification. The ability to verify and revise problems arising from multidisciplinary fusions in real-time minimizes the number of iterations and costs in the design process. Meanwhile, it provides a reference value for complex product design. Finally, a design case of an automatic cutting machine is conducted to reveal the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Regional jet retrofitting through multidisciplinary aircraft design

Multidisciplinary collaborative aircraft design is applied to a 90 passengers regional jet aircraft retrofit, highlighting the impact on costs and performance. Two retrofitting packages have been considered: the re-engining of conventional power-plant platform with advanced geared turbofan and the on-board-system modernization, considering different level of electrification. Starting from a reference existing aircraft, the impact of retrofitting process has been carefully evaluated on capital costs and savings at industrial level through a developed methodology. At aircraft level, masses, performance, noise, and emissions have been computed with dedicated competences increasing the estimation reliability. Overall process is implemented in the framework of the AGILE 4.0 research project in a collaborative remote multidisciplinary approach. Results show that such retrofitting activities are expensive and must be evaluated since the design stage with a bottom-up approach requiring competences coming from designer experience to correctly define the process work-breakdown-structure and its implications.

Mobilizing Materials Knowledge: exploring the Role of Samples for Supporting Multidisciplinary Collaborative Design for Materials Development

As designers increasingly become involved in larger and more complex multidisciplinary collaborations, they find themselves in unprecedented contexts of practice. New tools and methods are needed to support these challenging ways of working. This paper presents an ethnographic study focusing specifically on the role of materials samples in supporting knowledge sharing and mutual understanding in collaborative materials development. Observations are drawn from a case study of a 3.5 years EU H2020-funded multidisciplinary project which aimed to develop circular materials using a novel Design-Driven Materials Innovation (DDMI) methodology. Materials samples are known to be useful boundary objects for supporting the translation of codified scientific language into experiential language, which is essential for designers to understand materials potential. However, this study suggests that within the context of a complex collaboration, materials samples make knowledge available to all participants, and in particular, they appear to mobilise other forms of knowledge such as ‘know-who’, helping participants to understand the roles and capabilities of their fellow collaborators, enabling them to work together more effectively. This paper proposes a general framework identifying four types of materials samples used in the case study project, and their relationship to four forms of knowledge.

Usage of Data Provenance Models in Collaborative Multidisciplinary Aero-Engine Design

AbstractThe collaborative multidisciplinary design of aircraft engines is a complex and highly iterative process. An essential characteristic of this design process is the involvement of a large number of experts from different disciplines, as well as the usage of numerous tools and workflows. Large amounts of data are produced and need to be exchanged via a multitude of interfaces. Furthermore, the data undergo various transformations in the course of the design process. Understanding where a certain piece of data originates from and how it is connected to other datasets becomes therefore progressively essential. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology to apply data provenance models in collaborative multidisciplinary aero-engine design, supported by an approach for data standardization and identification. Besides the methodology, the software implementation to support this approach is presented in detail, including automated capturing and storage of provenance data, as well as methods for data investigation. In addition, the presented methodology is evaluated by means of practical examples from the field of preliminary aero-engine design.

AGILE Paradigm: The next generation collaborative MDO for the development of aeronautical systems

The research and innovation EU funded AGILE project has developed the next generation of aircraft Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDO) processes, which target significant reductions in aircraft development costs and time to market, leading to more cost-effective and greener aircraft solutions. 19 industry, research and academia partners from Europe, Canada and Russia have developed solutions to cope with the challenges of collaborative design and optimization of complex aeronautical products. In order to accelerate the deployment of large-scale, collaborative multidisciplinary design and optimization, a novel approach, the so-called “AGILE Paradigm”, has been conceived. The AGILE Paradigm is defined as a “blueprint for MDO”, accelerating the deployment and the operations of collaborative “MDO systems” and enabling the development of complex products practiced by multi-site and cross-organizational design teams, having heterogeneous expertise. A set of technologies has been developed by the AGILE consortium to enable the implementation of the AGILE Paradigm principles, thus delivering not only an abstract formalization of the approach, but also an applicable framework. The collection of all the technologies constitutes the so-called “AGILE Framework”, which has been applied for the design and the optimization of multiple aircraft configurations. The ambition of the AGILE Paradigm was set to reduce the lead time of 40% with respect to the current state-of-the-art. This work reviews the evolution of the MDO systems, underlines the open challenges tackled by the AGILE project, and introduces the main architectural concepts behind the AGILE Paradigm. Thereafter, an overview of the application design cases is presented, focusing of the main challenges and achievements. The AGILE technologies enabled the consortium to formulate and to solve in 15 months 7 MDO applications in parallel for the development of 7 novel aircraft configurations, demonstrating time savings beyond the 40% goal.

Collaboration by Design: Development of a Video Game for Energy Literacy

University students, faculty, and staff from science, engineering, education, entrepreneurship, and design (SEE(E)D) backgrounds developed a video game to leverage outreach efforts promoting sustainability, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ((S)STEM) to underserved students. This was accomplished by transforming a board game—previously developed and used to teach elementary students about complex and often misunderstood energy and sustainability issues—through a collaborative design process. The process of taking a tangible board game into the digital realm required significant design and pedagogical adaptations to maintain student learning outcomes and content delivery. Scientists, educators, and designers strengthened the graphical and pedagogical aspects of the game collaboratively to ultimately expand and deepen the energy literacy of elementary school students. This design case seeks to elucidate the multidisciplinary collaborative design process used by SEE(E)D faculty and researchers as well as students to redesign a board game into a didactic video game that is easier to both deploy and disseminate for the benefit of K-12 students and teachers.

Design and Integration of JMF-Based Multimedia-Supported Environment in a Product Data Management System

In order to meet discipline experts' requirements of knowledge exchange, conflict resolution, and design decision in the collaborative product design process, a JMF-based multimedia-supported environment (MSE) is proposed. The requirement to develop the MSE for multi-disciplinary collaborative design process is analyzed. Related key technologies of multimedia applications required to build the integrated MSE are described. Construction of multimedia interaction mode, design of system architecture, and formulation of development plan are implemented. Discipline experts' roles are defined, and safety certification function of application programs is achieved. Based on the development platform of Java 2 enterprise edition (J2EE), the realization of the system is completed, and the system is integrated into a previously developed product data management system. Through system experiment and test, the JMF-based system environment can well meet the needs of multimedia real-time interaction, knowledge sharing, and collaborative decision making in the process of collaborative product design.

Applying a distributed collaborative MDAO environment to study the power matching of the propulsion system and the on-board electrified systems for advanced regional and short- to medium-range jetliners

ABSTRACTThis paper deals with the study of the power matching of the propulsion system and on-board systems changing the on-board systems’ electrification level. In particular, four system architectures have been studied, each one with a different level of electrification starting from the More Electric Aircraft (MEA) to the All Electric Aircraft (AEA) systems. The mass and the power requirement of each system architectures have been analysed together with the change in engine specific fuel consumption. Then, these results have been used to quantify the influences of engine and systems power matching to the entire aircraft. In particular, the beneficial effect of system electrification has been evaluated as an increment of aircraft range. Moreover, two reference aircraft – a regional jet and a short/medium range liner – have been selected to understand the variance of the power matching changing aircraft dimensions and mission range. The study is carried out using a distributed and collaborative Multi-Disciplinary Design Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) environment. The results show a beneficial effect of systems electrification on systems mass and engine specific fuel consumption. At aircraft level, the results point out an increment of aircraft range up to 7.7% with a different trend for the two studied cases.

Taking stock of the present and looking ahead: envisioning challenges in the design of future HIV prevention efficacy trials

Despite the recent success of antiretrovirals for HIV prevention, additional, more effective, or more acceptable biomedical interventions will ultimately be needed to end the HIV epidemic. Designing clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of new products that reduce HIV infection risk is challenging because of the existence of highly effective interventions to prevent HIV. However, the implementation of these interventions is uneven, and the fact that multiple HIV prevention efficacy trials are currently evaluating new products means the field confronts uncertainty in the emerging standard of prevention. In this Viewpoint, we take stock of the current state of HIV prevention, and subsequently discuss the key challenges in designing future trials to evaluate the next generation of HIV prevention products. We also highlight gaps in the knowledge base that need to be addressed to advance the design of research. Future trials are tenable, even in the context of existing and effective interventions, and should involve careful statistical approaches and multidisciplinary collaborative design.

Formulation and integration of MDAO systems for collaborative design: A graph-based methodological approach

This paper proposes a novel methodology and its software implementation, called KADMOS (Knowledge- and graph-based Agile Design for Multidisciplinary Optimization System), to increase the agility of design teams in collaborative Multidisciplinary Design Analysis and Optimization (MDAO). Agility here refers to the ease and flexibility to assemble, adjust and reconfigure MDAO computational systems. This is a necessary feature to comply with the complex and iterative nature of the (aircraft) design process. KADMOS has been developed on the notion that a formal specification of an MDAO system is required before proceeding with integration of the executable workflow. A thorough formulation of the system becomes essential when such system is built on the many contributions of large, heterogeneous design teams. KADMOS can automate the generation of such formulations through a graph-based methodological approach. The graph syntax and manipulation algorithms form the core content of this paper. First, a simple MDAO benchmark problem is used to illustrate KADMOS's working principles. Second, a wing aerostructural design case is discussed to demonstrate KADMOS's capabilities to enable collaborative MDAO on large problems of industry-representative complexity. Next to its graph-theoretic foundation, KADMOS makes use of two data schemas: one containing the parametric representation of the product being designed and a second to store the achieved formulation of the MDAO system. The latter enables the interchangeable use of different process integration and design optimization platforms to automatically integrate the generated MDAO system formulation as an executable workflow. The proposed approach has been estimated to be capable of halving the time typically required to set up and iteratively reconfigure a complex MDAO system, while allowing discipline experts and system architects to maintain constant oversight and control of the overall system and its components by means of human-readable dynamic visualizations.

Design in context of use: An experiment with a multi-view and multi-representation system for collaborative design

The current trend of product design leads to a change in the collaborative working style. To find the most efficient way to exchange information on the digital mock-up of a product, a synchronous co-located collaborative design environment with recent technologies is in needed. A new groupware of multi-view system allows multiple users to have individual visual information of a domain-specific representation of digital mock-up. In this paper, we propose a case study for the development and testing of a co-located multi-view system in collaborative virtual reality, aiming at enhancing the multidisciplinary early collaborative design. An ergonomic method of Personas is introduced to the evaluation of the tool, considering various user performance. With a multidisciplinary mug design scenario, experiments are presented, validating the benefits of the proposed system.

Design optimization of hydraulic turbine draft tube based on CFD and DOE method

In order to improve performance of the hydraulic turbine draft tube in its design process, the optimization for draft tube is performed based on multi-disciplinary collaborative design optimization platform by combining the computation fluid dynamic (CFD) and the design of experiment (DOE) in this paper. The geometrical design variables are considered as the median section in the draft tube and the cross section in its exit diffuser and objective function is to maximize the pressure recovery factor (Cp). Sample matrixes required for the shape optimization of the draft tube are generated by optimal Latin hypercube (OLH) method of the DOE technique and their performances are evaluated through computational fluid dynamic (CFD) numerical simulation. Subsequently the main effect analysis and the sensitivity analysis of the geometrical parameters of the draft tube are accomplished. Then, the design optimization of the geometrical design variables is determined using the response surface method. The optimization result of the draft tube shows a marked performance improvement over the original.

Collaborative Design of Site-scale Green Infrastructure: A Case Study on the Ecologica l Restoration Design of Weiliu Wetland Park in Xianyang

Green Infrastructure (GI) is to integrate with multiple objectives into a comprehensive consideration. In China, the lack of multidisciplinary collaborative design method combining research, engineering technology, and spatial design as a whole limits the practice of GI, resulting in lots of single-function projects, unhelpful in the improvement of both urban resilience and the quality of city life. Taking the design process of Xianyang Weiliu Wetland Park as an example, this paper examines the collaborative design of multi-functional site-scale GI that is generated through a combination of scientific analysis and evaluation, engineering techniques, and landscape and spatial design, hoping to provide reference for the design and practice of GI-based ecological restoration and urban renewal in China.