Integrating model-based system engineering with set-based concurrent engineering principles for reliability and manufacturability analysis of mechatronic products

Abstract

The point-based approach consists of committing a set of requirements and a single design solution from the design space. This approach is time-consuming and often leads to deadline excess when developing a new complex system such as mechatronic systems. In fact, this approach could generate iterative loops between engineers in the downstream design stage to evaluate the manufacturability and the quality of the developed system. To overcome this issue, introducing a model-based system engineering (MBSE) approach in the upstream design stage hinged on set-based concurrent engineering (SBCE) principles is a good solution to diminish the exchange loops between engineers and to enhance efficiency in the design process. This approach consists in evaluating a large set of system solutions, then gradually narrowing these solutions until converging to a limited set of optimized solutions. In this article, a novel approach entitled “Model based for reliability and manufacturability analysis (MBRMA)” and based on model-based system engineering and set-based concurrent engineering in the preliminary design phases is used to filter out weak or costly solutions over time and to assess system engineer when adopting trade-off analysis. First, customer requirements, functional and structural aspect of the system are defined using SysML diagrams. Next, the application of the algorithm allows narrowing the design space, and finally, a trade-off analysis is carried out to select the best system architecture. The first contribution of this article is the creation of novel stereotypes of composition and allocation flows in a profile diagram between functions and alternative solutions. The second contribution is the implementation of an algorithm to analyze system robustness and to converge on the final set of optimized solutions. To test this newly developed model “model based for reliability and manufacturability analysis (MBRMA),” a case study of an air conditioning electrical compressor is considered to illustrate the various stages of this concurrent engineering approach.