Session: DFMLC-02-01 Design for Supply Chain, end of Life Recovery, and Large Systems

Paper Number: 117724

117724 - Design Levels and Realizability Constraints for Interconnected Engineering Systems With Coupled Physical Interactions 

This presentation discusses the major system types, design levels, and realizability (design, manufacturing, and integration) constraints for interconnected engineering systems with coupled physical interactions and proposes a conceptual framework to relate the design formulation of different physical systems to a set of simple general relationships and principles. In system design, the term “realizability” refers to the process of converting a mature theoretical design concept into a real-world physical system; this includes the manufacturing of the components and couplings, placement and assembly (i.e., “packing”), and integration of the various system components across their various interfaces. This process is necessary for the production and fielding of any engineering system, particularly those with coupled physical interactions between the components. In its most basic form, this approach will impose realistic constraints (mapped from the available materials and manufacturing processes) on the design variables at the formulation stage in order to constrain the whole design space from the beginning of the problem formulation. This will support design automation by reducing the amount of design space that needs to be explored and will ensure that all the design candidates are manufacturable. This is a desperately-needed bridge from ideation to realization for interconnected physical systems (IPS) problems.

Presenting Author: Albert Patterson Texas A&M University

Presenting Author Biography: Albert Patterson Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology with appointments in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering at Texas A&M University. He holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as MS and BS degrees in engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is the director of the Manufacturability-Driven Design Lab, where he leads an interdisciplinary 15-person team to solve fundamental and applied problems in mechanical design, manufacturing science, and systems life cycle engineering. Before pursuing a career as an academic researcher, Dr. Patterson worked for several years in the aerospace industry with the Boeing Company and the US Department of Defense through the Systems Engineering and Integration Office for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Program under the Missile Defense Agency.

Authors:

Zane Givans University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Albert Patterson Texas A&M University