Model-Based Design Workflows for Cyber-Physical Systems Applied to an Electric-Mechanical Coolant Pump

Abstract

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) connect mechanics, electrics and electronics as well as software. Considering the interactions between these domains is a major challenge in product development. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) enables cross-domain system development, based on commonly understood system architectures. However, there is still a gap in using MBSE for development, especially in mechanics. Systematic evaluation of design decisions based on system architecture models is not done. The strong simulation methods predicting physical product behaviour are not well connected to the evolving system architecture. We propose a new approach for connecting simulation and design models in a System Modelling Language (SysML) system model using the example of a combustion engine’s cooling circuit. The electric-mechanical coolant pump is chosen for design. The design processes of the hydrodynamic pump wheel and the volume flow controller are modelled as workflows in SysML. Here, we integrate design models for the pump wheel and the controller into the workflows. Thereby, parameters of the pump wheel and controller are calculated. Design results are automatically transferred to CAD. A workflow is created, testing the cooling circuit’s behaviour against requirements, combining a Simulink control model and a Simcenter Amesim heat transfer model. The approach results in a framework for automated design and test processes.

Model-Based Estimation of the Strength of Laser-Based Plastic-Metal Joints Using Finite Element Microstructure Models and Regression Models

“…During product development, iterations frequently take place due to changes in parameters or requirements, resulting in a constant need for re-testing their fulfilment [ 25 , 26 ]. As previously described, the microstructure geometry changes for different settings of the laser or different materials and can therefore change in the product development stage.…”

A Computer Science Perspective on Digital Transformation in Production

“…All of them contribute individual expertise, perspectives, paradigms, technologies, and solutions to the IoP. And often, this expertise is encoded in different kinds of models [69,105,152]. The successful and efficient integration of domain-specific knowledge into the IoP is crucial to construct the multi-perspective data and models at design time, simulation time, and run time.…”

A Classification Method for the Systematic Identification of Models and Workflows in MBSE

“…Höpfner et al [8] define workflows, which link single model execution activities within a system model to execute verification or design tasks during development [8]. Herein, workflows are semi-automated, executable procedures which hand over parameters between model execution activities.…”

“…In addition, CAE models are usually combined with each other to generate answers to specific questions in product development. Such workflows on how to combine CAE models also need to be part of MBSE system models [8]. However, since the existing virtual behavior models are not structured or documented in a uniform and machine-processable way, the identification of relevant virtual behavior models and their integration into the system model can only be done manually, laboriously and error-prone by specific model experts and the physical content is not assessable.…”