Integrated Simulation Modeling Method for Complex Products Collaborative Design Using Engineering-APP

Abstract

The design and development process of complex products is a multi-disciplinary collaborative process, which requires the cooperation of distributed teams. However, traditional simulation methods are usually discipline-oriented and there is a lack of efficiency in terms of share and reuse of the existing simulation models in a distributed and collaborative environment. In order to address this problem, we propose a multi-level knowledge framework for simulation model knowledge representation, retrieval and reasoning. Specifically, a simulation knowledge model by the name of “Engineering-APP” is developed to enable simulation knowledge sharing by using Web Service technology. The Engineering-APP model represents an integrated simulation knowledge wrapper, which includes information about the geometric model, design algorithm or analysis codes. Based on the Engineering-APP model, an intelligent collaborative prototype system is developed to support the design process with different stakeholders. Through an engineering case study, it is demonstrated that the proposed framework and Engineering-APP are effective and efficient for the representation and reuse of existing simulation models knowledge.