A presente pesquisa se trata da investigaÃÃo de caminhos para automaÃÃo do projeto de alvenaria em sistemas computacionais. Logo se propÃe a desenvolver diagramas aplicÃveis em plataformas BIM, que permitam a reordenaÃÃo automÃtica da paginaÃÃo das paredes, apÃs a inserÃÃo de novos objetos ou deslocamento de objetos jà inseridos. Devido à complexidade e diversidade de tipologias e detalhes arquitetÃnicos existentes, as plataformas BIM nem sempre conseguem atender a todas as demandas dos usuÃrios. Deste modo, as mesmas apresentam possibilidades de customizaÃÃo, como criaÃÃo de novos objetos, ou novas ferramentas que aperfeiÃoem o processo de projeto. Assim, nos Ãmbitos nacional e internacional observa-se a produÃÃo de tÃcnicas de automaÃÃo do design aplicada em diversos sistemas construtivos, seja de concreto armado ou alvenaria racionalizada. Dentre as diferenÃas entre as produÃÃes nacionais e internacionais destaca-se o mÃtodo utilizado. No Brasil ocorre a utilizaÃÃo de mÃtodos diversos, baseados na gramÃtica da forma e na modelagem paramÃtrica, alÃm do fato de as produÃÃes terem sido realizadas em universidades e em perÃodos distintos. No contexto internacional existe o desenvolvimento e a aplicaÃÃo do mÃtodo building object behavior (BOB) description and notation method, desenvolvido durante um consÃrcio entre universidades norte-americana e israelita com indÃstrias de concreto armado norteamericanas por notÃveis pesquisadores na Ãrea de BIM, Charles Eastman, Rafael Sacks e Chang Lee. Logo, para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho utilizou-se como estratÃgia de pesquisa o design science, tendo como base para o mÃtodo BOB. O processo de desenvolvimento da pesquisa se deu em quatro etapas: fase de elucidaÃÃo, fase de design, fase de validaÃÃo e traduÃÃo. Ao fim do trabalho foram gerados diagramas, aplicÃveis em qualquer plataforma BIM. Os diagramas descrevem os processos de automaÃÃo das paginaÃÃes de alvenaria. / This research comes to inquiry ways of automating the masonry design in computer systems. Soon aims to develop applicable diagrams in BIM platforms, enabling automatic reordering of paging walls following the inclusion of new objects or shifting objects already inserted. Because of the complexity and diversity of types and existing architectural details, the BIM platforms do not always meet all the demands of users. Thus, we present customization possibilities, such as creating new objects or new tools that improve the design process. Thus, in the national and international levels is observed the production design automation techniques applied in different construction systems, whether armed or rationalized masonry concrete. Among the differences between national and international productions stands out the method used. In Brazil is the use of various methods based on the grammar of form and parametric modeling, besides the fact of the productions have been performed in universities and in different periods. In the international context there is the development and application of building object behavior method (BOB) description and notation method, developed for a consortium of American and Israeli universities with reinforced concrete US north of industries for outstanding researchers in the BIM area, Charles Eastman, Rafael Sacks Lee and Chang. Therefore, the development of this study was used as the science research strategy design, based method for BOB. The research development process took place in four stages: elucidation phase, design phase, validation phase and translation. At the end of work were generated diagrams, applicable in any BIM platform. The diagrams describe the process automation of masonry pagination.

Compliant mechanisms are flexible structures that utilize elastic deformation to achieve their desired motions. Using this unique mode of actuation, the compliant mechanisms have two distinct advantages over traditional rigid machines: (1) They can create highly repeatable motions that are critical for many high precision applications. (2) Their high degrees-of-freedom motions have the potential to achieve mechanical functionalities that are beyond traditional machines, making them especially appealing for miniature robots that are currently limited to only having simple rigid-body-motions and gripping functionalities. Unfortunately, despite the potential of compliant mechanisms, there are still several key challenges that restrict them from realizing their full potential. To facilitate this discussion, we first divide the compliant mechanisms into two categories: (1) the stiffer flexural mechanisms that are ideal for high precision applications, and (2) the more compliant miniature soft robots that can reshape their geometries to achieve highly complex mechanical functionalities. The key limitation for existing flexural mechanisms is that their stiffness and dynamic properties cannot be optimized when they have multi-degrees-of-freedom. This limitation has severely crippled the performance of flexural mechanisms because their stiffness and dynamic properties dictate their workspace, transient responses and capabilities to reject disturbances. On the other hand, miniature soft robots that have overall dimensions smaller than 1 cm, are unable to achieve their full potential because existing works do not have a systematic approach to determine the required design and control signals for the robots to generate their desired time-varying shapes.

The software environment for power electronics design is comprised of tools that address many interrelated disciplines including circuits design, physical layout, thermal management, structural mechanics, and electromagnetics. This usually results in a number of separate models that provide various views of a design, each of which is usually stored separately in proprietary formats. The problem is that the relationships between views (e.g., the circuit design that defines the functional connectivity between components, and the physical layout that provides physical paths to implement connections), are not explicitly captured. This makes it difficult to synchronize and maintain data consistency across all models as changes are made to the respective views. This thesis addresses this problem by describing power electronics modules using STEP AP210, the STandard for the Exchange of Product data, Application Protocol 210; which has been designated as ISO 10303-210. A multidisciplinary model was implemented for an integrated power electronics module (IPEM). It consists of two views of the IPEM: a functional network definition of the IPEM, and a physical implementation that satisfies the functional connectivity requirements. The relationships between these two views are explicitly recorded in the model. These relationships allow for the development of a method which verifies whether the connectivity data in both views are consistent. Finally, this thesis provides guidance for deploying STEP AP210 to unify multidisciplinary data resources during the design of integrated power electronics. / Master of Science

Enclosure design is the process of creating a package that will support and protect enclosed circuitry. Electronic enclosures are used in almost all industries, such as aerospace, automotive, naval, computer, toy, etc. Many designers use computer aided design (CAD) packages to aid them in creating these enclosures. Enclosure creation involves a working knowledge of the physics behind electrical and mechanical systems. Each of these engineering disciplines has separate CAD packages with their own set of rules, programming language, and interfaces. This creates a barrier for communication flow between electrical CAD (ECAD) and mechanical CAD (MCAD). The purpose of this thesis is to overcome the communication barrier by effectively transferring the knowledge contained in the ECAD package to the MCAD package, and use this information to aid in the electronic enclosure design process.

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Scania is known as a front-runner in the development of power trains for heavy vehicles, marine, and general industrial applications. As the regulations on emissions for combustion engine vehicles are getting tougher with increasing awareness on sustainable solutions and reducing environmental impact, the goal at Scania is to develop combustion engines to achieve low-pollutant emissions whilst achieving higher efficiency. Consequently, the exhaust after-treatment systems must continuously evolve to meet changing legislative requirements and customer demands.  To achieve this goal in this competitive market, Scania must adapt to these changes within a short period of time. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and improve the existing development process for the exhaust after-treatment system particularly for Large silencer platform by introducing design automation intended for computational fluid dynamics simulations. The objective was to introduce a method to reduce development time and allow designers to generate CFD models as effectively as possible. Two new methods were developed and proposed to create geometries intended for CFD simulation. The first method focuses on the extraction and splitting of internal volume/fluid region and these models will be utilized in the simulation solvers to perform CFD simulation. The second method was to standardize the naming of extracted surfaces specific to CFD simulation since every surface is treated differently in the simulation solvers. A simple user-friendly graphical user interface was created for easy operation and faster adaptability. Finally, the developed methods were evaluated and it was shown that it has the potential to save a significant amount of time during the pre-processing of the development phase and thus allow the engineers to focus on other value-adding and important task.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In order to facilitate the creation of complex and robust RSFQ digital logic circuits an extensive library of electronic design automation (EDA) tools is a necessity. It is the aim of this work to introduce various methods to improve the current state of EDA in RSFQ circuit design. Firstly, Monte Carlo methods such as Latin Hypercube sampling and Sobol sequences are applied for their variance reduction abilities in approximating circuit yield. In addition, artificial neural networks are also investigated for their applicability in modeling the parameter-yield space. Secondly, a novel technique for circuit functional testing using automated state machine extraction is presented, which greatly simplifies the logical verification of a circuit. This method is also used, along with critical timing extraction, to automatically generate Hardware Description Language(HDL) models which can be used for high level circuit design. Lastly, the Greedy Local search, Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithm meta-heuristics were statistically compared in a novel manner using a yield model provided by artificial neural networks. This is done to ascertain their performance in optimising RSFQ circuits in relation to yield. The variance reduction techniques of Latin Hypercube Sampling and Sobol sequences were shown to be beneficial for the use with RSFQ circuits. For optimisation purposes the use of Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithms were shown to improve circuit optimisation for possible multi-modal search spaces. An HDL model is also successfully generated from a complex RSFQ circuit for use in high level circuit design which includes critical timing and propagation latency. All the techniques presented in this study form part of a software library that can be further refined and extended in future work.

This thesis work is mainly focused on the processes involved in manufacturing of aircraft engine components. The processes are especially about welding and welding methods. The basics of welding and the thesis support has been taken from the GKN Aerospace Sweden AB, a global aerospace product supplier.  The basic objective of this thesis work is to improve the usability of an automation system which is developed for evaluating the weldability of a part. A long run maintainability aspect of this automation system has been considered. The thesis work addresses the problems arising during the usage of a computerised automated system such as process transparency, recognisability, details traceability and other maintenance aspects such as maintainability and upgradability of the system in the course of time. The action research methodology has been used to address these problems.  Different approaches have been tried to finding the solution to those problems. A rule based manufacturability analysis system has been attempted to analyse the weldability of a component in terms of different welding technics. The software “Howtomation” has been used to improve the transparency of this analysis system. User recognisability and details tractability have been taken into account during the usage of a ruled based analysis system. The system attributes such as maintainability, upgradability, adaptiveness to modern welding methods has been addressed. The system suitability for large scale analysis has been considered.