A Robust Concept Exploration Method for Configuring Engines

该合同为研究和实施一种方法提供资金，用于确定按订单设计和按订单制造系统（如飞机、船舶和飞机发动机）的初始顶层规格。该方法将侧重于描述满足设计目标的设计配置区域，但在获得足够的信息以选择用于进一步设计定义的单个配置之前，保留设计中的自由。研究方法将汇集现有的分析工具和健壮的设计原则，通常只在后期设计阶段实现，并将它们纳入产品实现时间线的早期阶段。这些工具的有效应用将通过实验和统计技术（实验设计、方差分析和响应面方法）和稳健设计技术的整合和实施来实现。如果成功，这项研究的结果将使设计师能够探索和确定许多可选择的设计配置，并随后将重点放在单个配置上，以进行进一步的分析和描述。由此产生的方法应该促进与以下方面相关的成本效益研究：(1)全面设计（从多学科、系统的角度进行设计），(2)稳健设计（对产品实现时间线变化相对不敏感的设计），(3)灵活设计（允许相对较小的变化以低成本进行检查），(4)可修改设计（允许设计以经济有效的方式适应总体需求的大变化）。在产品实现时间线的早期阶段进行此类研究的能力对美国工业的商业和国防部门都有价值。

9612365 Mistree This award provides funding for the research on and implementation of a method for determining initial, top-level specifications of designed-to-order and made-to-order systems such as aircraft, ships, and aircraft engines. The approach will focus on the delineation of regions of design configurations that satisfy design goals but that retain freedom in the design until sufficient information is obtained to pick a single configuration for further design definition. The research approach will bring together existing analysis tools and robust design principles, generally implemented only in later design stages, and incorporate them in the early stages of a product realization time line. Effective application of these tools will be achieved through the integration and implementation of experimental and statistical techniques (design of experiments, analysis of variance, and response surface methodology) and robust design techniques. If successful, the results of this research will enable designers to explore and identify many alternative design configurations and subsequently focus on a single configuration for further analysis and delineation. The resulting method should facilitate cost-effective studies associated with (1) comprehensive design (design from a multidisciplinary, systems perspective), (2) robust design (designs that are relatively insensitive to changes along a product realization time line), (3) flexible design (allow relatively small changes to be examined inexpensively), (4) modifiable design (allow designs to be adapted to large changes in overall requirements cost-effectively). The capability to perform such studies in the early stages of a product realization time line should be of value to both the commercial and defense sectors of US industry.