Data and Process Models for Concurrent Engineering of Mechanical Systems

This paper presents a framework for computer aided engineering (CAE) that has been developed for Concurrent Engineering of mechanical system design and analysis. The framework integrates engineering software systems in a tool-workspace-subenvironment-environment hierarchy. A workspace or a subenvironment represents an engineering application or discipline. The paper discusses (1) an object-oriented tool integration method to integrate engineering applications, (2) global and local data models that are used to integrate product information at different hierarchical levels, and (3) an engineering process modeling method that expresses engineering activities as tool or workspace runstreams. The developments in these three aspects of the framework build a basis to develop activity coordination capabilities. Some considerations that are related to engineering activity coordination are discussed at the end of the paper. The CAE framework presented can be extended for computer aided manufacturing (CAM) applications also.