Truncation error calculation based on Richardson extrapolation for variable-step collaborative simulation

Collaborative simulation is an effective approach to performing simulation analysis for complex systems by integrating models developed for different engineering disciplines. Collaborative simulation issues include the modeling of coupled multidisciplinary systems, and the simulation running time integration of these models that are solved parallelly. Estimation of the local truncation error of coupling models is the key to solve multidisciplinary collaborative simulation problem, which is actually used to ...     

A collaborative platform for complex product design with an extended HLA integration architecture

How to integrate the heterogeneous, autonomous models in a distributed environment, running on Internet, integration based on multilayer federation architecture and simulation resources dynamic reuse are the major difficulties for complex product collaborative design and simulation. An extended HLA-based collaborative simulation platform for multidisciplinary collaborative design is proposed. The architecture of platform is first given. The idea and realization of four key technologies, the dynamic creation of simulation federation based on resource management federation (RMF), HLA enabled template, collaborative simulation algorithm based on stage-data synchronization and TH_RTI, an extensible HLA runtime infrastructure (RTI), which is a web enabled RTI and can be used at Internet, are emphasized. Finally, an industry case is given. The demonstration of these prototype systems shows that extended HLA integration architecture is effective infrastructure for multidisciplinary collaborative modeling and simulation (M&S).     

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.     

Multidisciplinary fault diagnosis of complex engineering systems: A case study of nuclear power plants

Fault diagnosis is a key process in ensuring complex engineering system safety. It often requires collaborative and multidisciplinary efforts. This study seeks to understand the process of multidisciplinary fault diagnosis in complex engineering systems and the key human factors issues that impair this process. Data were collected from multidisciplinary diagnostic activities conducted in the commissioning phase of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In the first phase, we proposed a process model based on a combination of literature review, specialist interviews, and field observations. In phase two, the influencing issues identified in the first phase were assessed through a survey with 117 NPP commissioning specialists. Five factors influencing multidisciplinary fault diagnosis were identified: cognitive artifacts, diagnosis biases, preparation for multidisciplinary diagnosis, information sharing and collaborative reasoning, and collaborative decision-making. The significances of each factor were compared. The results provide guidance for the development of improvement measures to enhance the performance of multidisciplinary fault diagnosis.Practitioner summaryThe processes and influencing issues of multidisciplinary fault diagnosis during the commissioning phase of nuclear power plants were studied with field observations, interviews of 28 specialists, and a survey of 117 specialists. Five major influencing factors were identified, and their influences were compared.     

Using collaborative computing technologies to enable the sharing and integration of simulation services for product design

Nowadays simulation is commonly used in engineering design for verifying design concepts before physical prototypes are produced. The simulation of complex products such as mechatronics in general involves a synergy of multiple traditional disciplinary areas and entails the collaborative work of a multidisciplinary team. A need thus arises for supporting the effective and efficient integration of subsystem models at simulation runtime and in a distributed environment. These models are generally created using different simulation tools and depend on the inputs from each other to perform numerical integration. As such, many issues need to be addressed, e.g. system modeling, the use of computing technologies, and the runtime interaction between models. In this paper, a service-oriented paradigm is presented which is underpinned by collaborative computing technologies to enable the provision of simulation models as services as well as the integration of these services for performing simulation tasks in product design. As well as the implementation of such a paradigm, a method for the interaction between models is in particular developed to achieve high accuracy for the simulation of design problems involving the solving of system equations. Preliminary evaluation work shows that the proposed paradigm underpinned by collaborative computing technologies is viable and have great potential in supporting collaborative simulation development in industry and the method for interaction control successfully achieves better accuracy compared with traditional methods.     

.NET Remoting在分布式建模与仿真环境中的应用

.NET Remoting作为一种新的分布式解决方案较Web Service等其他分布式开发技术具有效率高、功能强大、配置灵活等特点。融合.NET Remoting技术的分布式建模与仿真环境可以实现网络环境下以浏览器作为系统入口进行复杂系统的多学科协同建模和仿真应用。文章介绍了一种基于.NET Remoting的分布式建模与仿真环境的设计与实现。     

改进的多学科协同优化算法及其应用

多学科优化设计（MDO）是当前复杂系统工程设计中研究最活跃的领域.分析了标准多学科协同优化算法解决实际复杂MDO问题计算困难的原因,提出了基于试验设计的近似模型和智能优化的协同优化算法（NCO）.NCO算法继承了标准协同优化分布并行的思想,采用现代智能算法优化系统级减小优化陷入局部解的可能性,以试验设计为基础的高精度近似模型代替学科真实模型降低计算成本,平滑数值噪声.通过经典MDO测试算例与Alexandrov提出的改进松弛协同优化比较,优化结果表明,NCO能有效提高收敛速率,保证收敛结果的稳定性和可靠性,能更好地满足复杂系统工程优化需要.     

网络仿真协作实验系统应用模型研究

随着网络技术的高速发展，网络教育在现代教育中所占地位越来越重要；其次，协作学习也以其众多的优势越来越受到广大教育工作者的重视。但是对于在工程学科中占有重要地位的实验环节，目前的网络教育课程还提供得很少。本文介绍了协作学习的概念和优点，并将其应用到网络教育和工程实验中，引入了网络仿真协作实验的概念，分析了网络协作实验系统的发展现状，描述了网络仿真协作实验系统的结构；设计了网络协作实验系统的应用模型，研究了这一模型中的主要技术，最后将该模型应用到多元精馏实验系统中，实现了多元精馏仿真协作实验系统。     

生态河湖工程设计BIM技术全流程综合应用研究

为解决传统设计模式下手工设计效率低、二维图纸不直观、协同设计难开展及存在信息孤岛的问题,针对生态河湖工程设计阶段涉及的河道堤防、水工建筑物、生态景观及多专业协同,通过 BIM 技术建立更加真实的三维地形模型,进行参数化、联动式河道堤防设计,再建立水工、景观等建筑物 BIM 模型,利用多专业协同技术,对模型进行整合,构建 BIM 技术全流程设计体系。该体系贯穿整个设计阶段,对工程项目进行数字化、可视化表达,构建可实现各参与方协同工作、数据共享的同一数据模型,设计更快速高效,整个工程项目更加直观,可提高项目设计全流程精细化管理水平,显著提升工程生产效率、质量和社会经济效益。     

Coupling of interactive manufacturing operations simulation and immersive virtual reality

This paper presents a novel general-purpose simulation analysis application that combines concurrent operations simulation with the advanced data interrogation and user interaction capabilities of immersive virtual reality systems. The application allows for interactive modification of the simulation parameters, while providing the users with the available simulation information by effectively placing the operator in the midst of the environment being simulated. The major contribution of this research is the total integration of the immersive virtual reality environment with the simulation, allowing users in the environment to interactively change the inputs to the simulation as it is running. Implementation and functionality details of the developed application are presented. The experience of using the application to analyze a manufacturing operation in a collaborative scenario is also discussed.     

分布式集群协同仿真研究

分布式集群协同仿真是指地域上分布、系统上异构的多个节点群为实现某一复杂的仿真目的而进行互连并进行内容级的互操作的一种复杂、大型、综合的协同仿真。其中每一个节点为一个仿真系统(或仿真器)或控制系统或服务器,多个节点互连形成为节点群构成具有明确仿真目标的综合仿真系统,井且这些节点群综合仿真系统种类多样(虚拟仿真系统、实物仿真系统、构造仿真系统等)、具有层次结构(如军事上战略仿真、战役仿真、战术仿真、装备仿真等)、地理上,“域分布(WAN或INTERNT环境)而且它们之间的连接关系较为复杂(一对一、一对多、多对一、多对多等)。该文提出了“分布式集群协同仿真”与“双时仿真”的概念与构想;研究并设计了分布式集群协同仍真的体系结构;建立了多节点分布集群协同仿真时间管理策略;构建了几类典型协间仿真系统运行控制的算法。分布式集群协同仿真由于具有分布、异构、广域、多粒、层差等特性,因此,分布式集群协同仿真研究既足一个实践课题,同时也是一个理论课题。该文的研究,主要集中在分布集群协同仿真层次的多节点复杂大系统的应刚领域,属实践课题研究。     

Paradigm shift: unified and associative feature-based concurrent and collaborative engineering

With widely used concurrent and collaborative engineering technologies, the validity and consistency of product information become important. In order to establish the state of the art, this paper reviews emerging concurrent and collaborative engineering approaches and emphasizes on the integration of different application systems across product life cycle management (PLM) stages. It is revealed that checking product information validity is difficult for the current computer-aided systems because engineering intent is at best partially represented in product models. It is also not easy to maintain the consistency among related product models because information associations are not established. The purpose of this review is to identify and analyze research issues with respect to information integration and sharing for future concurrent and collaborative engineering. A new paradigm of research from the angle of feature unification and association for product modeling and manufacturing is subsequently proposed.     

Detecting logic errors in discrete-event simulation: reverse engineering through event graphs

Several inherent constraints remain in the model development process, even though modern enhancements to simulation environments have provided tools for code generation, debugging, and tracing. To develop a simulation model, the simulation analyst still needs to have expertise in a number of different fields, e.g., probability, statistics, design of experiments, modeling, systems engineering, software engineering, and computer programming. Although several simulation packages implement syntactic-checks and semantic-consistency-checks, typically, the simulation analyst needs to possess output-analysis-knowledge specifically aimed at verifying and checking the simulation code.Reverse engineering a graphical model, e.g., an event graph, from general purpose simulation code demonstrates an enhancement to the model development process. A reverse engineering step allows an analyst to check, both, the static and dynamic properties of the coded simulation model. Even though the reverse engineering produces an event-oriented view, the enhanced model development process provides a systematic approach for conversion from other world views. Overall, this enhanced process provides a framework which yields better analysis techniques.Better diagnostic assistance is achieved when viewing a combination of static and dynamic properties of the simulation code. Now, the analyst is able to find logical/execution errors, e.g., errors related to resource deadlocks, before running simulation experiments. Since the graphical model is generated from the simulation code, and the process combines views, the analyst also has a better framework for verifying the coded simulation model. Also, the reverse engineering step provides a structural model useful in converting between different simulation languages or systems. Improvements to the techniques for conversion between languages will facilitate reuse of existing programmed models.     

复杂产品虚拟样机支撑平台的初步研究与开发

该文主要研究并介绍了复杂产品虚拟样机支撑平台研究项目取得的阶段研究成果，包括支撑平台体系结构及其关键技术等，尤其重点介绍了目前自行开发集成的，开放的，基于标准支持多领域复杂产品虚拟样机工程的支撑平台，并给了两个基于支撑平台的典型虚拟样机开发应用案例。初步实践表明复杂产品虚拟样机支撑平台可看作为下一代企业协同应用各领域CAx/DFx工具的有效手段。最后，对进一步研究工作进行了展望。     

Automated generation of multiphysics simulation models to support multidisciplinary design optimization

To ensure a consistent design representation for serving multidisciplinary analysis, this research study proposes an intelligent modeling system to automatically generate multiphysics simulation models to support multidisciplinary design optimization processes by using a knowledge based engineering approach. A key element of this system is a multiphysics information model (MIM), which integrates the design and simulation knowledge from multiple engineering domains. The intelligent modeling system defines classes with attributes to represent various aspects of physical entities. Moreover, it uses functions to capture the non-physical information, such as control architecture, simulation test maneuvers and simulation procedures. The challenge of system coupling and the interactions among the disciplines are taken into account during the process of knowledge acquisition. Depending on the domain requirements, the intelligent modeling system extracts the required knowledge from the MIM and uses this first to instantiate submodels and second to construct the multiphysics simulation model by combining all submodels. The objective of this research is to reduce the time and effort for modeling complex systems and to provide a consistent and concurrent design environment to support multidisciplinary design optimization. The development of an unstable and unmanned aerial vehicle, a multirotor UAV, is selected as test case. The intelligent modeling system is demonstrated by modeling thirty-thousand multirotor UAV designs with different topologies and by ensuring the automatic development of a consistent control system dedicated for each individual design. Moreover, the resulting multiphysics simulation model of the multirotor UAV is validated by comparing with the flight data of an actual quadrotor UAV. The results show that the multiphysics simulation model matches test data well and indicate that high fidelity models can be generated with the automatic model generation process.     

基于全数字的航空机载软件验证平台研究

为解决机载软件验证与开发环境冲突、软件验证独立性及软件联合仿真验证的问题,提出了一套基于全数字仿真技术的航空机载软件验证平台设计方案。即基于企业内各专业已有的全数字仿真系统、多学科仿真模型,设计了一套以数据分发服务为基础的架构,实现系统之间的互联互通;考虑软件测试要求及测试用例的可读性、可维护性需求,提出了基于测试场景的测试用例设计方法,实现测试场景与测试用例数据的分离,对验证工作的分工安排、工作交接维护具有较大的意义;对已有的企业级测试管理系统进行扩展,打通软件需求、设计、测试项、测试场景、测试用例之间的关联关系,实现软件开发验证的协同管理。     

Distributed collaboration for engineering design: A review and reappraisal

Collaborative manufacturing is aimed to increase the flexibility of design and production processes through multiple organizations pooling strengths on a product‐by‐product basis to create distributed collaborative corporations. These collaborations involve multidisciplinary, geographically dispersed teams of engineers who often communicate only through voice, video, or computer‐mediated interfaces. Utilizing sociotechnical theory as a framework, this article reviews multiple sources of literature on collaboration and interprets them in light of the collaborative engineering design process. A conceptual model of distributed engineering collaboration based on a sociotechnical theory framework is proposed to understand how technology changes both the social interaction and the technical design process. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Large-scale coordination: developing a framework to evaluate socio-technical and collaborative issues

Collaborative logistics, logistics-based networks, focused logistics, and distributed adaptive logistics refer to innovative approaches to logistics planning/execution encompassing automated, adaptive technologies, and proactive human collaboration. Because these approaches are collaborative and distributed in nature, they create novel challenges for coordination and collaboration within socio-technical systems, which encompass the collaborative technologies, the people or machines engaged in collaboration, and the social context of collaboration and coordination. The present challenges need to be met by theoretical models incorporating multidisciplinary perspectives in the study of collaboration. The current paper introduces a collaboration framework which may inform the design and implementation of collaborative technologies and systems, to include distributed logistics teams, from a socio-technical perspective.     

协同仿真平台中仿真组件的封装技术研究

在多学科多领域协同仿真平台中,仿真组件对应的仿真软件种类繁多且异构性较大。针对不同类型仿真组件之间数据庞杂和数据交换困难的问题,提出可对仿真组件进行一致访问与控制的封装技术。介绍仿真组件的构成及封装对象,研究仿真组件的封装机制、数据变量封装以及封装变量的映射与传递等关键封装技术,阐述封装组件的检测方法。通过仿真组件封装工具与自研协同仿真平台的集成,验证仿真组件封装技术的可行性,并结合具体的仿真组件封装实例,说明仿真组件的封装技术能有效提高模型和数据的重用性,降低对复杂仿真流程的管理难度。     

Multidisciplinary interface model for design of mechatronic systems

The design of mechatronic systems is based on the integration of several disciplines, such as mechanical, electrical and software engineering. How to achieve an integrated multidisciplinary design during the development process of mechatronic systems has attracted the attention of both academia and industry. However, solutions which can fully solve this problem have not been proposed by now. The concept of multidisciplinary interface represents the logical or physical relationship integrating the components of the mechatronic system or the components with their environment. As the design of mechatronic systems is a multidisciplinary work, the multidisciplinary interface model can be considered as one of the most effective supports to aid designers for achieving the integrated multidisciplinary design during the development process. The paper presents a multidisciplinary interface model for design of mechatronic systems in order to enable the multidisciplinary integration among design team members from different disciplines. On the one hand, the proposed model ensures the consistency of interface defined by the designers. On the other hand, it helps the designers to guarantee the different components integrate correctly. The interface model including three concepts: classification, data model and compatibility rules. The multidisciplinary interface model is implemented by a case study based on a 3D measurement system.