A Model-Based Functional Modeling and Library Approach for Mechatronic Systems in SysML

Abstract

Even though the concept development phase in product development is arguably the most important phase in mechanical and mechatronics design, the available computer-based support for this stage is marginal. This paper presents a new computational model-based method to improve the early phases of mechatronic product design and to facilitate the application from early designs to detailed designs. The paper focuses on model-based Function-Behavior-Structure (FBS) libraries in SysML to support both the manual and computational generation of standard and innovative concepts. In this paper, an approach to re-usable functional models in SysML is presented. The method uses an operator-flow formulation of functions, based on the NIST functional basis, and is validated against a model of an electric car. The generated functional models are validated with respect to the consistency of the flows and tested by associating the functional model directly to the target product component structure. The results of the research are a new modeling approach for function and component libraries in SysML, an associated workflow for modeling of mechatronic systems, and the necessary extensions of the NIST functional basis. The modeling approach provides means for formal functional decomposition followed by an allocation of the functions to structural components that form the target structure.