The regulations on emissions from a combustion engine vehicle are getting tougher with increasing awareness on sustainability, requiring the exhaust after-treatment systems to constantly evolve to the changes in the legislation. To establish a leading position in the competitive market, companies must adapt to these changes within a reasonable timeframe. With Scania’s extensive focus on Simulation-driven design, the product development process at Scania is highly iterative. A considerable amount of time is spent on generating a specific model for a simulation from the existing Computer-aided Design (CAD) model and pre-processing it. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how design and simulation teams can collectively work to automatically generate a discretized model from the existing CAD model, thereby reducing repetitive work. As an outcome of this project, a method is developed comprising of two automation modules. The first module, proposed to be used by a design engineer, automatically generates a simulation-specific model from the existing CAD model. The second module, proposed to be used by a simulation engineer, automatically discretizes the model. Based on two case study assemblies, it is shown that the proposed method is significantly robust and has the potential to reduce product development time remarkably.

A method has been created that addresses the issues that prohibit the conversion of product artifacts into a secure, efficient and reliable Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) environment. These issues include automatic import of data into a PLM system and revision control of such data. A test case is shown which specifically addresses these issues as they pertain to the management of both legacy and new engineering data in a PLM system.

The agile creation of 3D CAD platforms (3D CAD models that can be configured to obtain a family of Products) has become an important factor for increasing competitiveness of organizations that create discrete products. Design Automation (DA) is a powerful tool that can be used for speeding up and optimizing the design process of those 3D CAD platforms. Nonetheless, for effectively applying DA on the development of 3D CAD platforms it is desirable to count on tools that address the three fundamental hurdles that are also obstructing the wide adoption of DA in practice. These hurdles are the lack of identification of DA opportunities, the absence of performance metrics, and the absence of methods for continuous improvement. This dissertation contributes a set of methods and tools to incrementally improve the process for creating 3D CAD platforms towards increased automation. The tools proposed include the development of a Metrics Framework (MF) for assessing the capabilities of an organization for creating 3D CAD platforms; a method for increasing the organizational capabilities for creating 3D CAD platforms, and a method for identifying optimal improvement efforts for creating 3D CAD platforms in a multi-objective scenario

Vorgestellt werden verschiedene Programmierschnittstellen von Creo. Des Weiteren werden Anwendungsmöglichkeiten im Bereich der konstruktionsbegleitenden Simulation (Creo Simulate) vorgestellt. Ziel ist die Entlastung des Konstrukteurs/Berechners von Routineaufgaben und die Integration von Wissen in das Simulationsmodell.

Övergången från CATIA V4 till CATIA V5 innebär nya möjligheter för konstruktörerna på Scania att arbeta med Knowledge Based Engineering, KBE, för att effektivisera och kvalitets-säkra sitt arbete. Då CATIA V5 är en ny plattform som innehåller verktyg med samlingsnamnet knowledgware, för att bygga in kunskap i modeller ville Scania undersöka potentialen i att arbeta med KBE, och hur detta skulle kunna ske på Scania. Vid traditionell produktutveckling tas en helt ny artikel fram vid behov och ofta innebär detta att arbete som tidigare utförts, görs om igen. Syftet med arbetet är därför att undersöka huruvida KBE i CATIA V5 kan erbjuda möjligheter att återanvända kunskap från tidigare arbete och samtidigt kvalitetssäkra denna, samt utreda vilka knowledgewarelicenser som i så fall kan vara lämpliga för Scania. För att göra detta har en litteraturstudie genomförts för att undersöka vad som har gjorts inom området, och även en intervjustudie har utförts inom R&D på Scania. Vidare har sakkunniga på Linköpings Universitet och Tekniska Högskolan i Jönköping intervjuats. Detta material har sedan sammanställts och analyserats för att sedan resultera i slutsats och rekommendationer. Arbetet har resulterat i en demonstrationsmodell för Scania internt, som baserar sig på den information som framkommit under litteraturstudier och intervjuer. Att arbeta med KBE har både fördelar och nackdelar där den största svårigheten ligger i att bedöma om en artikel lämpar sig för KBE-modellering. Vinsterna med KBE är att stora tidsvinster kan göras och kvalitet kan säkerställas. De mest användbara licenserna för Scanias vidkommande är KWA och PKT, med vilka exempelvis kontroller av standarder och återanvändning av geometrier kan göras. Den slutliga rekommendationen baserat på teori och resultat är att Scania bör överväga att införa KBE som arbetssätt, och därför tillsätta en grupp som fungerar som expertis inom KBE. Denna bör då fungera som support och en resurs vid skapande av KBE-modeller och ansvara för att dessa är korrekta och underhålls. Vidare bör arbete med att definiera fysiska gränssnitt mellan artiklar startas och lämpligtvis då av GEO- eller Layoutgrupperna. / The transition from CATIA V4 to CATIA V5 opens up new possibilities for designers at Scania to work with Knowledge Based Engineering, KBE, in order to increase efficiency and assure quality. As CATIA V5 is a new platform complete with tools, referred to as knowledgeware, for infusing knowledge into models, Scania wanted to investigate the potential of working with KBE, and how this could be used at Scania. In traditional product development a completely new model is produced when needed, and this often entails performing tasks already undertaken and completed. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to ascertain whether or not KBE in CATIA V5 can offer the possibility to reuse knowledge from previous work and assuring the quality of this, and if so, determine which knowledgeware licenses would be appropriate for Scania. In order to do this, a literature study was conducted in order to look into what had been done in this field. Also, an interview study was carried out within Scanias R&D department. In addition to this, interviews were held with expertise at Linköping University and Jönköping University. The material was then compiled and analyzed, resulting in conclusions and recommendations. The thesis resulted in a demonstration model for Scania internally, based on the information gathered from literature and interviews. Working with KBE has its pros and cons, the biggest difficulty being to determine whether or not an article is suitable for KBE-modelling. The profits of KBE include quality assurance and sizeable reductions in design time. The most useful knowledgeware licenses for Scania are KWA and PKT, which for example enables users to implement checks for standards and to easily reuse geometry. The final recommendations of this thesis, based on theory and results, is that Scania should consider introducing KBE, and should therefore appoint a group to function as an authority on KBE. This group would provide support and act as a resource in the creation of KBE-models, and also be responsible for the validity and maintenance on these. Furthermore work should begin with defining physical interfaces between articles, preferably by GEO- and Layout groups.

Vorgestellt werden verschiedene Programmierschnittstellen von Creo. Des Weiteren werden Anwendungsmöglichkeiten im Bereich der konstruktionsbegleitenden Simulation (Creo Simulate) vorgestellt. Ziel ist die Entlastung des Konstrukteurs/Berechners von Routineaufgaben und die Integration von Wissen in das Simulationsmodell.

Intensive competition on the global market puts great pressure on manufacturing companies to develop and produce products that meet requirements from customers and investors. One key factor in meeting these requirements is the efficiency of the product development and the production preparation process. Design automation is a powerful tool to increase efficiency in these two processes. The benefits of automating the production preparation process are shortened led-time, improved product performance, and ultimately decreased cost. Further, automation is beneficial as it increases the ability to adapt products to new product specifications with production preparations done in few or in a single step. During the automation process, knowledge about the production preparation process is collected and stored in central systems, thus allowing full control over the design of production equipments. Three main topics are addressed in this thesis: the flexibility of design automation systems, knowledge bases containing conflicting rules, and the automation of the finite element analysis process. These three topics are discussed in connection with the production preparation process of rotary draw bending. One conclusion drawn from the research is that it is possible to apply the concept of design automation to the production preparation process at different levels of automation depending on characteristics of the implemented knowledge. In order to make design automation systems as flexible as possible, the concept of object orientation should be adapted when building the knowledge base and when building the products geometrical representations. It is possible to automate the process of setting up, running, and interpreting finite element analyses to a great extent and making the automated finite element analysis process a part of the global design automation system.

Developing high-end aerospace components is a complex and highly competitive business. Hence methods for decreasing lead-time, while still providing the same quality and at a lower cost, has to be developed. This thesis is conducted at Research & Technology - GKN Aerospace in Trollhättan Sweden. A multidisciplinary analysis system known internally as Engineering Workbench, forms the base for implementation of the methods and tools developed in this thesis work. The system applies set-based engineering approach to develop new components. The evaluation of the design space is performed through parametric studies to find relations between the design parameters and performance metrics of the design. The engineering workbench allows GKN to define and evaluate a large design space within a limited timeframe. This thesis will look to improve the current producibility assessment system within the EWB by increasing the robustness and flexibility of the system. This is done by re-designing the producibility analysis part system and into a modular knowledge-based system that implements various techniques to increase the robustness and flexibility of the system. The re-designed system is automated, flexible and robust and is able to perform user defined weld assessments on a various designs and provides GKN with weld producibility data.

Les stratégies de Recherche et Développement (R&D) au sein des entreprises s'orientent aujourd'hui vers l'amélioration de la productivité du processus de développement des produits mécaniques. L'implication des différents acteurs métiers, dans toutes les phases de développement, devient critique pour maintenir les facteurs de compétitivité. Ce constat est en cohérence avec la récente stratégie de gestion du cycle de vie des produits (PLM), qui propose une gestion intégrée de l'ensemble des informations et des processus liés au produit, sur la totalité de son cycle de vie, dans un contexte d'entreprise étendue. Des approches, qualifiées d' " ingénierie intégrée " et " concourante ", ont émergées au carrefour des approches de conception routinière et conception innovante. Ceci a permis l'intégration des contraintes des métiers situés en aval, au plus tôt dans les processus de développement. Ce travail de thèse s'inscrit dans les domaines de la conception intégrée et de la gestion des informations techniques, plus particulièrement centrée sur le couple des informations produit-process. Celui-ci consiste à la mise en place d'une méthodologie baptisé Fabrication Based On Knowledge (FaBK) visant à aider le développement des produits, à l'aide des applications de Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) dans une démarche de conception orientée pour la fabrication (DFM). Nous avons réalisé des expérimentations au sein d'une entreprise du secteur automobile, afin de valider notre proposition de méthodologie sur des produits tels que des conduits d'air d'un véhicule, et des procédés de fabrication tels que la soudure plastique.

<p>Intensive competition on the global market puts great pressure on manufacturing companies to develop and produce products that meet requirements from customers and investors. One key factor in meeting these requirements is the efficiency of the product development and the production preparation process. Design automation is a powerful tool to increase efficiency in these two processes.</p><p>The benefits of automating the production preparation process are shortened led-time, improved product performance, and ultimately decreased cost. Further, automation is beneficial as it increases the ability to adapt products to new product specifications with production preparations done in few or in a single step. During the automation process, knowledge about the production preparation process is collected and stored in central systems, thus allowing full control over the design of production equipments.</p><p>Three main topics are addressed in this thesis: the flexibility of design automation systems, knowledge bases containing conflicting rules, and the automation of the finite element analysis process. These three topics are discussed in connection with the production preparation process of rotary draw bending.</p><p>One conclusion drawn from the research is that it is possible to apply the concept of design automation to the production preparation process at different levels of automation depending on characteristics of the implemented knowledge. In order to make design automation systems as flexible as possible, the concept of object orientation should be adapted when building the knowledge base and when building the products geometrical representations. It is possible to automate the process of setting up, running, and interpreting finite element analyses to a great extent and making the automated finite element analysis process a part of the global design automation system.</p>