Unified Feature-based Product and Process Modeling and for Energy Engineering

在之前的发现拨款工作的基础上，申请者提出了一项继续研究；主题是基于计算机的产品和过程建模技术，用于能源工程。该提案旨在建立系统化的核心机制，有效整合艾伯塔省工程、采购和建筑(EPC)公司使用的不同工程设计、分析和应用软件工具。从根本上讲，解决互操作问题的理论统一的特征建模方案是在工程信息学的背景下研究的。短期目标是研究通用约束建模和流程交互管理方法。对于第一个方面，这项研究有望提供一个开放的功能，可以系统地记录、评估和传播各种工程约束的变化。如果成功，这方面的解决方案将提供自定义的特征类型，支持产品和工艺工程领域的特征定义、信息共享和映射的灵活性。对于第二个方面，可以理解，每个工程过程都可以表示为工程开发过程中的一系列交互和循环更新；如果能够发明通用的、灵活的交互建模方法，则可以完全表示和管理产品开发步骤。这两个方面将成为拟议的可持续工程管理技术的支柱。其长期目标是研究新一代跨学科信息平台的系统模块化体系结构和语义模型，以支持产品和过程开发的生命周期。工程范围从模拟物理现象建模，到工程工具概念化和开发，再到支持工程项目、产品开发和制造过程。这项雄心勃勃的研究最终将使集成的虚拟工程平台能够无不兼容地支持“现象-工程-产品-过程”循环。这项拟议的使能技术强调支持多学科参与者和应用程序的协作和并行工程环境。目标工业应用是艾伯塔省能源生产部门的EPC公司。提出的主要任务包括概念化和开发支持具有统一特征方案的计算机辅助工程应用的通用方法，以及进一步开发原型系统以展示未来工程信息系统的功能。具体的研究成果是在可扩展的原型平台上实现不同特征概念的创新统一的工业适用的核心技术方法和语义模型；更多面向应用的通用机制和模块有待研究、设计和验证，以解决产品和工艺工程中的典型循环问题。该建议还涵盖了行业采用工作，开发了试点行业应用程序模块，可以通过几家典型公司的应用程序案例展示关键的工程功能和可伸缩性。对于高素质人才培养，将全力支持2名博士生和2名硕士研究生。基于提出的这一一般性研究，可以产生更多的产业合作项目。发表高质量的论文将有助于传播知识；还计划为此目的参加国际会议和举办研讨会。

On top of the previous discovery grant effort, the applicant is proposing a continued research; the theme is computer based product and process modeling technology for energy engineering. This proposal aims to systematic core mechanisms for effectively integrating different engineering design, analysis and application software tools used in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies of Alberta. Basically, a theoretical unified feature modeling scheme addressing the interoperability problem is to be studied within the engineering informatics context. The short term goals are to investigate generic constraint modeling and process interaction management methods. For the first aspect, the research is expected to provide an open functionality that can systematically record, evaluate and propagate changes of diverse engineering constraints. If successful, the solution in this aspect will offer self-defining feature types that support flexibility in feature definition, information sharing and mapping for both product and process engineering domains. For the second aspect, it can be appreciated that every engineering process can be represented as a series of interactions and the cyclical updates along the engineering development; the product development steps can be fully represented and managed if a generic and flexible interaction modeling method can be invented. These two aspects are to be the supporting pillars for the proposed sustainable engineering management technology. The long-term goal is to investigate the systematic modular architecture and semantic models for a new generation inter-disciplinary information platform that can support the life cycles of product and process development. The engineering scope covered ranges from physics phenomena modeling with simulations, to engineering tool conceptualization and development, and further to supporting engineering projects, product development and manufacturing processes. This ambitious research will eventually enables integrated virtual engineering platform supporting “phenomenon-engineering-product-process” cycles without incompatibility. This proposed enabling technology emphasizes supporting a collaborative and concurrent engineering environment for multiple disciplinary players and applications. The targeted industrial applications are in EPC companies of the energy production sector in Alberta. The key tasks proposed include conceptualizing and developing a generic method that support computer-aided engineering applications with the unified feature scheme, and further developing a prototyping system to demonstrate the functionality of the future engineering information system. The specific research outcomes are those industrial applicable core technology methods and semantic models that enable the innovative unification of different feature concepts on top of the scalable prototyping platform; more application-oriented generic mechanisms and modules are to be investigated, designed and verified to solve typical cyclic problems in product and process engineering. This proposal also covers industrial adoption effort which develops pilot industrial application modules that can demonstrate the key engineering functionality and scalability with the application cases from a few typical companies. For highly qualified personnel training, 2 PhD and 2 Master graduate students are to be fully supported. More industrial collaboration projects can be generated based on this generic research proposed. Publishing high quality papers will help in knowledge dissemination; attending international conferences and conducting seminars are planned as well for this purpose.