In sandwich structures, mass can be reduced or mechanical properties increased if the challenging local load distribution can be improved. Through numerical optimizations, novel designs can be determined and investigated in physical and virtual tests. This paper presents an approach for load path-optimized design of sandwich structures and novel design concepts. The approach is applied to the design concept of honeycombs filled with potting compound. Due to the shown transferability to higher structural levels, it can be used as a basis for the design optimization of any sandwich structure.

Quotation of engineer-to-order products provides substantial challenges in effectively managing engineering resources. This paper describes an approach that rationalizes this process by integrating multi-disciplinary design analysis and optimization with a new open-source library for managing engineering knowledge before and after optimization. The approach is applied and evaluated on mechanical rock excavation machines. Adapting the approach and considering the user feedback gathered can lead to an enhanced design space overview during quotation and thus more competitive product offerings.

The rapid development of new technologies such as electrification, autonomy, and other contextual factors pose significant challenges to development teams in balancing competing aspects while developing value-robust solutions. One approach for achieving value robustness is designing for changeability. This paper presents a tradespace exploration from a Systems-of-Systems perspective to facilitate changeability assessment during early design stages. The approach is further demonstrated on a fleet of haulers operating in a mining site.

To achieve higher functionality in mechatronic systems, the management of disturbance factors plays a crucial role. For this purpose, a method was developed in prior works to address this management via the optimisation of product structures. However, this method lacks applicability due to the complexity of one step of the method. It is the goal of this paper to present a software tool, utilizing cluster-analysis to sort components into assemblies, with which this step is supported. Additionally, the method is generally adapted to address a wider spectrum of phenomena in mechatronic systems.

Every manufacturing procedure is subject to tolerance variations. Over the years, a set of key characteristic features (KCF) that can explain the effect of manufacturing variations on the aero-mechanical performance of a fan blade has been devised and monitored to ensure conformality and good performance. The KCFs are derived from a cloud of coordinate measurement machine (CMM) points and are defined on approved engineering drawings for the manufactured part. In this paper, it is demonstrated that some of the traditional, common wisdom KCFs are not adequate to explain the engine performance deviation behaviour on a test bed at the sea-level condition. On the other hand, good correlation is found by analysing a set of engineering parameters drawn from a new inverse-mapping procedure of the CMM data. It is further demonstrated that a deviation measured via CMM or 3D structured light (GOM) data in cold conditions can be translated to a variation in the hot running shape of the blade. Having identified the key blade features, a cheap alternative to modifying the manufacturing procedure is devised to recover the fan performance by optimising its leading-edge shape.

The literature lacks methodologies to make supply chains of composite materials circular. The proposed approach aims to transform scraps and off-specification products into secondary raw materials. Its novelty is to find innovative applications, instead of re-introducing scraps in the loop they come from. The case study investigates how scraps can be re-worked and re-used as raw material. First, the processes are analyzed; some components are then re-designed to be made of the discarded scraps (composites material). Results reveal that the symbiosis can ensure green, high performing products.

Manually exploring the solution space for different variants of a product for a given set of requirements is ineffective regarding product development time and adaptation to dynamic customer requirements. Variant generation coupled to optimization algorithms offers possibilities to search the solution space in an automated way. This paper provides a framework to build a generative parametric design environment for functional assemblies by implementing analysis as well as synthesis methods in computer-aided tools. The procedure is presented using the example of a coffee machine.

The modular lightweight design attempts to reconcile the partially conflicting goals between modularization and lightweight design in order to establish a harmonized modular hybrid design. This requires a close exchange of the resulting development data between the two areas. In this contribution a concept for an interface for the data exchange between system models and FEM models is presented and successfully implemented in the Cameo Systems Modeler and applied to examples from the aircraft cabin. With the interface the homogenization step of modular lightweight design can be performed.

The paper presents a framework for the integration of the system's design variables, state variables, control strategies, and contextual variables into a design optimization problem to assist early-stage design decisions. The framework is based on a global optimizer incorporating Dynamic Programming, and its applicability is demonstrated by the conceptual design of an electrical hauler. Pareto front of optimal design solutions, in terms of time and cost, together with optimal velocity profiles and battery state-of-charge is visualized for the given mining scenario.

This paper addresses the problem of finding a robust optimal design when uncertain parameters in the form of crisp or interval sets are present in the optimization. Furthermore, in order to make the approach as general as possible, direct search methods with the help of sensitivity analysis techniques are employed to optimize the design. Consequently, the presented approach is suitable for black box models for which no, or very little, information of the equations governing the model is available. The design of an electric drivetrain is used to illustrate the benefits of the proposed method.

This paper presents a framework to develop the automated design of fixtures using the combination of design automation (DA), multidisciplinary optimization and robotic simulation. MDO necessitates the use of concurrent and parametric designs which are created by DA and knowledge-based engineering tools. This approach is designed to decrease the time and cost of the fixture design process by increasing the degree of automation. AutoFix provides methods and tools for automatically optimizing resource-intensive fixture design utilizing digital tools from different disciplines.

Through-Lifecycle Whole Design Design Optimisation is widely considered one of the future approaches to solving design problems featuring prominently in Model-Based Systems Engineering, Set-Based Design and Digital Twins. Yet, design optimisation remains siloed optimising for design subsets. In this paper, we review academic literature and a series of case studies to uncover the challenges in achieving Through-Lifecycle Whole Design Design Optimisation. This is followed by action research that has investigated the application of software deployment toolchains to overcome the challenges.

Predicting the impact of changes in a design can be challenging, especially for complex designs. Margins are often built into the designs which can absorb the knock-on effect of such changes, erroneously allocating which can however, lead to propagation. A method for localising and sizing margins in an incremental design context is the Margin Value Method. This paper adapts MVM in the context of uncertainty in input specifications. It discusses possible ways to allocate them in a design such that undesirable effects of margins are minimised while preventing change propagation.

Truss structures are a stiff, economical, and efficient lightweight design, the limiting factor of these structures are usually the load transfer elements. This paper presents an analytical design method for optimized adhesive tubular lap joints between CFRP tubes and aluminium inserts. The analytically optimized design agrees very well with the numerical simulations and experimental results. Although the experiments show a highly non-linear behaviour, where a linear elastic correlation is expected, the total load capacity is only reached when the adhesive is fully plasticised.

Integrated Natural Resource Conservation and Development (INRCD) Projects promote community economic development consistent with natural resource conservation. Such projects are studied analytically as system design optimization problems comprising engineering, economic, and social considerations. Modeling social benefits as objectives or constraints requires proper quantification. From the extant literature, we decompose the social benefits concept into quantifiable INRCD attributes and point to further quantification efforts needed to capture the system design's impact on local communities.

This paper presents five industrial cases where design automation (DA) systems supported by design optimization has been developed, and aims to summarize the lesson learned and identify needs for future development of such projects. By mapping the challenges during development and deployment of the systems, common issues were found in technical areas such as model integration and organizational areas such as knowledge transfer. The latter can be seen as a two-layered design paradox; one for the product that the DA system is developed for, and one for the development of the DA system.

This paper presents an approach for evaluating exoskeleton support concepts through biomechanical analyses on a musculoskeletal human model. By simplifying the support forces of an exoskeleton as external forces, different support concepts can be biomechanically evaluated for the respective use case without concrete design specifications of the exoskeleton. This enables an estimation of the resulting relief and strain on the human body in the early stages of exoskeleton development. To present the approach, the use case of working at and above head height with a power tool is chosen.

Nowadays, a large number of different tools that support early phases of design are available to engineers. In the past decade a specialized set of CAD-based tools were developed, that support the ideation process by generating different design alternatives according to the criteria given by the designer. Two types of tools are discussed in this paper: topology optimization and generative design tools. To investigate to what extent these tools are suitable for use in early design phases and what are the main differences between them, a study was conducted on an industrial case.

The increasing market competitiveness and CAE availability require the products to be optimised. This practice is exceedingly present when producing semi-standard parts like structural elements. Several cost calculation methods are developed, bringing up the question - which one to use? In this article, we compared three methods; a welded I-section beam was used as an example. The optimisation was carried out using two objectives (mass and cost) and was submitted to Eurocode boundary conditions. The results have shown that the cost calculation method has a negligible influence on the results.

Overspecification or excess margin in a design can enhance its ability to absorb changes and uncertainty, but also deteriorates performance criteria such as weight and cost. This paper shows how the Margin Value Method (article in review) can be applied in conjunction with CAE tools such as FEA to quantify excess margin where a design is too complex for algebraic analysis. This new application context for the MVM is illustrated using a case study of a flange coupling design, in which topology optimisation is used within the MVM to identify opportunities for design improvement.