1. Integration of MBSE and Virtual Engineering for Detailed Design
Presented by: Akshay Kande
Advisor: Dr. Steven Corns
Missouri University of Science & Technology

2. Virtual Engineering
Model Based Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering
Complexity
Towards Creating an Integrated Development Environment for Engineering Systems

3. Objectives
Creating a seamless integration of MBSE and detail design tools to
Manage complexity
Help engineers to make informed decisions
Execute engineering models
Understand potential impacts of changing design parameters

4. Complexity
A property by which behavior of elements gets interconnected in such a way that changes made no longer have effects limited to the local area.
Latin word plexus – interwoven

5. Complexity and Systems Engineering
Later was first introduced to satisfy the demands of systems with
increased performance capabilities
reduced cost
Short development time
Systems engineering provides a systematic way to manage complex engineering ventures that consists of highly interconnected subsystems

6. Systems Engineering Process
Effective management of Information flow remains one of the key drivers to the success of the systems engineering activity
Sanford Friedenthal, Alan Moore, Rick Steiner, A Practical Guide to SysML: The Systems Modeling Language, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 2008.

7. Traditional Approach Document Centric Method Requirements
System Functions
System Design
…….
…….
Document Centric Method

8. Drawbacks Large collection of individual documents
Difficulty in maintaining consistency
Extraction of relevant information becomes cumbersome
Difficulty to maintain the most updated document

9. Model Based Systems Engineering
INCOSE defines MBSE as, “Formalized application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout the development and later life cycle phases.”

10. Model Based Systems Engineering
In MBSE, models are used to represent
Structural
Operational
Behavioral
characteristics of the system being developed

11. MBSE (Contd.) Typical MBSE environment consists of following elements
Modeling Language
Modeling Tool

12. Systems Modeling Language
General purpose modeling language
Developed by the OMG group
Supports model based systems engineering
Extension of Unified Modeling Language(UML)
Supports design, analysis, verification and validation of systems

13. SysML Diagram Types

14. Systems Modeling Language
Limitations
Models lack self execution capability
Dependence on external analysis tools
Lack of executable architecture framework

15. Extending Capabilities
Systems Design Process
Stakeholder data
Systems Engineering Information
Design & Analysis tools
How do we provide the detailed design & analysis capabilities?
How do we enhance decision making?

16. Proposed Solution Virtual Engineering
A means for creating a representation of physical system in a computer generated virtual environment
Gives designers the ability to interrogate a system and observe how it reacts to design changes
Provides an accessible visual format to present information in a manner that is of value to all the stakeholders

17. VE-Suite Open-source virtual engineering software package
Developed for engineering analysis and design of complex systems in a virtual environment
Provides a highly integrated virtual environment where the results of engineering models such as
CAD,
Finite element analysis,
Computational fluid dynamics
can be displayed in a single environment

18. VE-Suite Architecture
User Interface
Graphical engine
Computational unit

19. Virtual Systems Modeling Approach

20. Methodology VE-Suite Model Structure Composition
VE-UI
VE-Unit
VE-GP
VE-Suite Model Structure Composition

21. Methodology (Contd.) Analysis Model Structure in SysML
Simulation block
Constraint blocks
System model
Analysis Model Structure in SysML

22. Model Structure Analogy

23. Modeling Methodology
Profile is a mechanism to extend capabilities of modeling languages to suit domain requirements

24. Modeling Methodology
MBSE Tool
Simulation block
Constraint block
System Structure
Design parameters and time constraints
Parametric equations
CAD model References
VE-UI
VE-Unit
VE-GP
The model organization created in the MBSE tool allows the code to be readily available for compilation to create the Plugins for VE-Suite.

25. Example Model
Fermentor: Used in the bio-processing industry for producing compounds such as citric acid and ethanol
Layout of the Fermentor model

26. Model development in SysML
Value properties that depict the quantifiable characteristics of the blocks. These quantities also represent the input and output parameters considered in the experiment.

27. Defining Constraints for Analysis
Constraints used for calculating the citric acid concentration defined using SysML construct

28. Analysis Model in SysML

29. Parametric diagram relating structural and simulation properties
Parametric Model
Parametric diagram relating structural and simulation properties

30. Adding VE Models
Three main VE-Suite Components for fermentor in MBSE environment:
FermentorUI
FermentorUnit
FermentorGP
Each VE-Suite module in the MBSE environment is composed of operations specific to the Plugin it has to create

31. Using CAD models
Architecture of Computer Aided Design (CAD) models is used to represent the system being developed
Part properties of the fermentor system model are referenced with individual CAD files that represent their structure
Done using an UML operation to read data from the CAD file using OSG function

32. Fermentor Analysis Model

33. Fermentor Output in VE-Suite

34. Discussion and Closure
Use of model based engineering adds modularity, reusability and easy maintainability of design information
SysML covers varying aspects of systems engineering activity by providing easy to use graphical constructs
A complete model traceability can be maintained using relationship semantics
However, lack of self execution capabilities renders it to rely on external analysis tools for detail design

35. Virtual Systems Modeling Approach
Potential of SysML to manage information complexity can be used in conjunction with executable detailed design models
Enhanced decision making capabilities
System performance can be tested for different combination of parameter values
Maintain consistency while executing analysis models

36. Future Work
The example model defines the creation of a user defined computation unit which is one among the numerous capabilities that VE platform offers. Future work shall be
To use high fidelity models in conjunction with systems engineering data
To streamline the integration process by porting the auto-code generation API into a VE-Suite interface

37. Thank You