Designing and developing complex engineering systems is a collaborative effort. In Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), this collaboration is supported through the use of formal, computer-interpretable models, allowing stakeholders to address concerns using well-defined modeling languages. However, because concerns cannot be separated completely, implicit relationships and dependencies among the various models describing a system are unavoidable. Given that models are typically co-evolved and only weakly integrated, inconsistencies in the agglomeration of the information and knowledge encoded in the various models are frequently observed. The challenge is to identify such inconsistencies in an automated fashion. In this research, a probabilistic (Bayesian) approach to abductive reasoning about the existence of specific types of inconsistencies and, in the process, semantic overlaps (relationships and dependencies) in sets of heterogeneous models is presented. A prior belief about the manifestation of a particular type of inconsistency is updated with evidence, which is collected by extracting specific features from the models by means of pattern matching. Inference results are then utilized to improve future predictions by means of automated learning. The effectiveness and efficiency of the approach is evaluated through a theoretical complexity analysis of the underlying algorithms, and through application to a case study. Insights gained from the experiments conducted, as well as the results from a comparison to the state-of-the-art have demonstrated that the proposed method is a significant improvement over the status quo of inconsistency identification in MBSE.

The Ph.D. project has evolved from focusing on the technical problem of the integration and interoperability of an assemblage of complex systems and SoS within a flight training system to development of a workflow process using frameworks to aid the decision making process for the selection of optimal flight training blending mixes. The focus of the research involved developing a methodology to satisfy research project proposal requirements agreed upon with the industrial sponsor. This thesis investigates the complexity of a modern flight training systems and the need for understanding that it is supported by a complex Family of Systems (FoS) including Virtual Reality Training Environments such as flight simulators, to live training aircraft with various configurations of avionic controls. One of the key technical problems today is how best to develop and assemble a family of flight training system into an integrated Live/Synthetic mix for aircrew training to optimise organisation and training objectives. With the increased use of emulation/synthetic data on aircraft for live training, the synthetic boundary is becoming increasingly blurred. Systematic consideration of the most appropriate blend is needed. The methodology used in the research is model driven and the architecture produced is described at a level of abstraction to enable communication to all stakeholders for the means of understanding the structure involved in the system design process. Relational Oriented Systems Engineering and Technology Trade-Off Analysis (ROSETTA) frameworks are described using Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) techniques for supporting capability based trade-off decisions for selection of optimal flight training FoS mixes dependent on capability. The research proposes a methodology and associated methods including a high-level systematic closed loop information management structure for blended device/tool aircrew training and a modelling and analysis approach for the FoS aviation training problem to enhance the existing training programmes to provide a more efficient and agile training environment. The mathematical formalisms used provide a method of quantifying subjective opinions and judgements for trade studies to be accomplished on the suitability of technology for each student pilot in relation to training and organisational objectives. The methodology presented is by no means a final solution, but a path for further research to enable a greater understanding of the suitability of training tools/technology used to train individual pilots at various stages throughout the training pipeline lifecycle(s).

Mechatronic design is an enigma. On the one hand, mechatronic products promise enhanced functionality, and better performance at reduced cost. On the other hand, optimizing mechatronic design concepts is a major challenge to overcome during the design process. In the past, less attention has been paid to the life phases of a mechatronic product, and it was assumed that modifications in electronics and software will ensure that the product performs to expectation throughout its life time. However it has been realized that introducing design changes in mechatronics is not easy, since it is difficult to assess the consequences of a design decision, both during the design process of a new product, and during a design modification. It is also realized that there is a strong need to consider the product's life phases during the early phases of product development. Furthermore, it is rather difficult to perform a design optimization since it requires introducing changes across different domains, which is not well supported by the methods and tools available today. This thesis investigates the topic of mechatronic design and attacks some of the major challenges that have been identified regarding the design of mechatronic products. The goal is to provide support to the designers to facilitate better understanding of the consequences of their design choices as early as possible. The work also aims to provide support for assessing alternative design concepts, and for optimizing a design concept based on requirements, constraints and designer preferences at the time of design. The thesis highlights three main challenges related to mechatronic product development: the need for a common language during conceptual design; the inadequate information transfer between engineering domains; and the difficulty in assessing the properties of competing mechatronic concepts. A model-based integration approach is presented, and these key challenges are considered in relation to an integrated modeling and design infrastructure. The approach is illustrated through the design of two mechatronic systems- a two degrees-of-freedom robot, and a hospital bed propulsion system. Initial results provide evidence of good potential for information transfer across mechatronic domains. Although SysML was used for the case studies, some important questions were raised about its suitability as a common language for mechatronics. Suggestions for future work are: to utilize the developed infrastructure and incorporate a capability to model and assess consequences of competing design concepts; provide support for optimizing these concepts; and evaluate the usefulness of the developed infrastructure in a real-world design setting. These efforts should provide ample information to the designer for making adequate decisions during the design process. / QC 20110629

La complexité des systèmes conçus actuellement devient de plus en plus importante. En effet,afin de rester compétitives, les entreprises concevant des systèmes cherchent à leur rajouter de plus en plusde fonctionnalités. Cette compétitivité introduit aussi une demande de réactivité lors de la conception desystèmes, pour que le système puisse évoluer lors de sa conception et suivre les demandes du marché.Un des éléments identifiés comme empêchant ou diminuant cette capacité à concevoir de manière flexibledes systèmes complexes concerne les spécifications des systèmes, et en particulier l’utilisation de la languenaturelle pour spécifier les systèmes. Tout d’abord, la langue naturelle est intrinsèquement ambiguë et celarisque donc de créer des non-conformités si client et fournisseur d’un système ne sont pas d’accord sur lesens de sa spécification. De plus, la langue naturelle est difficile à traiter automatiquement, par exemple, onpeut difficilement déterminer avec un programme informatique que deux exigences en langue naturelle secontredisent. Cependant, la langue naturelle reste indispensable dans les spécifications que nous étudions,car elle reste un moyen de communication pratique et très répandu.Nous cherchons à compléter ces exigences en langue naturelle avec des éléments permettant à la fois de lesrendre moins ambiguës et de faciliter les traitements automatiques. Ces éléments peuvent faire partie demodèles (d’architecture par exemple) et permettent de définir le lexique et la syntaxe utilisés dans lesexigences. Nous avons testé les principes proposés sur des spécifications industrielles réelles et développéun prototype logiciel permettant de réaliser des tests sur une spécification dotée de ces éléments de syntaxeet de lexique. / Systems are becoming more and more complex, because to stay competitive, companies whichdesign systems search to add more and more functionalities to them. Additionally, this competition impliesthat the design of systems needs to be reactive, so that the system is able to evolve during its conception andfollow the needs of the market.This capacity to design flexibly complex systems is hindered or even prevented by various variouselements, with one of them being the system specifications. In particular, the use of natural language tospecify systems have several drawbacks. First, natural language is inherently ambiguous and this can leadsto non-conformity if customer and supplier of a system disagree on the meaning of its specification.Additionally, natural language is hard to process automatically : for example, it is hard to determine, usingonly a computer program, that two natural language requirements contradict each other. However, naturallanguage is currently unavoidable in the specifications we studied, because it remains very practical, and itis the most common way to communicate.We aim to complete these natural language requirements with elements which allow to make them lessambiguous and facilitate automatic processing. These elements can be parts of models (architectural modelsfor example) and allow to define the vocabulary and the syntax of the requirements. We experimented theproposed principles on real industrial specifications and we developped a software prototype allowing totest a specification enhanced with these vocabulary and syntax elements.

This dissertation develops systems engineering and machine learning models for aviation maintenance support. With the constant increase in demand for air travel, aviation organizations compete to maintain airworthy aircraft to ensure the safety of passengers. Given the importance of aircraft safety, the aviation sector constantly needs technologies to enhance the maintenance experience, ensure system safety, and limit aircraft downtime. Based on the current literature, the aviation maintenance sector still relies on outdated technologies to maintain aircraft maintenance documentation, including paper-based technical orders. Aviation maintenance documentation contains a mixture of structured and unstructured technical text, mainly inputted by operators, making them prone to error, misunderstanding communication, and inconsistency. This dissertation intends to develop decision support models based on systems engineering and artificial intelligence models that can automate the maintenance documentation system, extract useful information from maintenance work orders, and predict the aircraft's top degrader signals based on textual data. The first chapter of this dissertation introduces the significant setbacks of the aviation industry and provides a working ground for the following chapters. The dissertation's second chapter develops a system engineering framework using model-based systems engineering (MBSE) methodology to model the aviation maintenance process using the systems engineering language (SysML). The outcome of this framework is the design of an automated maintenance system model that can be used to automate maintenance documentation, making it less prone to error. The third chapter of the dissertation uses textual data in maintenance work orders to develop a hybrid approach that uses natural language processing (NLP) and transformer models to predict the readiness of a legacy aircraft. The model was tested using a real-life case study of the EA-6B military aircraft. The fourth chapter of this dissertation develops an ensemble transformer model based on three different transformer models. The ensemble model leverages the benefits of three different transformer architectures and is used to classify events based on an aviation log-based dataset. This dissertation's final and fifth chapter summarizes key findings, proposes future work directions, and provides the dissertation's limitations.

Increased trends towards servitization within previously exclusively manufacturing industries makes a larger part of maintenance become the responsibility of the manufacturer. This increased responsibility makes it more important for suppliers to know how different parameters contribute to cost, to be able to price their contracts correctly. Systems Engineering (SE) and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) are two current methodologies on how to manage large systems. These methodologies are mainly used within defence industries and large capital-intensive infrastructure projects but are today also utilised in civilian industries. With the new methodology of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and the new demands of servitization it becomes more important to know how different parameters affect the final cost of a project during the very early phases of development. Within ILS the parameters Administrative Delay Time (ADT) and Logistics Delay Time (LDT) have previously not received attention proportional to their contribution to overall availability in projects. This thesis is based in literature, interviews of industry professionals, and the study of a real case of an electrical charging infrastructure project currently in development. From these sources multiple paths to resolve the issues with support from ILS, MBSE, SE, and other management literature are explored. Several attributes of the case, and characteristics of MBSE and ILS leads to the conclusion that coupling the methodologies with Lean methods would lead to better insight into where critical points in the explored system are and give ways of resolving issues with ADT and LDT that exist. The combination of MBSE and Lean methods could successfully identify possible critical points in the error handling of the electrical charging infrastructure system early in the process of implementation. Conclusionary the combination of MBSE, ILS, and Lean is a possibly powerful way to identify and improve the availability and consequently the cost of a project in the early stages. / Tjänstefiering är en trend som gör att en allt större del av underhåll inom tidigare endast tillverkande industrier blir tillverkarens ansvar. När detta ansvar ökar blir det viktigare för tillverkaren and veta vilka parametrar som är kostnadsdrivande. Detta för att kunna prissätta sina tjänster korrekt. Systemteknik (SE) och Integrerat Logistikstöd (ILS) är två metodologier som används till att hantera underhåll av stora system. Dessa nyttjas främst inom försvarsindustrin och inom kapitalintensiva infrastrukturprojekt, men används även i privat industri. Med hjälp av en utveckling inom SE, Modellbaserad Systemteknik (MBSE), och med de krav som tjänstefiering innebär så blir vikten av att ha korrekt angivna parametrar tidigt i projektet mer tydlig. Inom ILS är särskilt parametrarna administrativ väntetid (ADT) och logistisk väntetid (LDT) särskilt eftersatta med hänsyn till hur mycket de påverkar tillgängligheten och kostnaderna för systemet. Detta examensarbete baseras på tillgänglig litteratur inom nämnda områden, intervjuer med industrirepresentanter, och dokumentation och intervjuer i ett riktigt fall. Det riktiga fallet är ett pågående projekt för uppbyggnad och underhåll av laddningsinfrastruktur för eldrivna fordon. Från dessa källor utforskades och analyserades flera vägar för hur man skulle kunna förbättra hanteringen av ADT och LDT med grund i litteraturen kring ILS, MBSE, och SE med annan litteratur inom mangament som stöd. Fallets egenskaper, och egenskaper hos ILS och MBSE leder till slutsatsen att en kombination av MBSE och Lean skulle leda till att man lättare kan utforska kritiska delar av ett underhållssystem, och åtgärda existerande problem med ADT och LDT. En kombination av dessa principer kunde identifiera kritiska punkter i felhanteringssystemet hos laddarna i infrastrukturprojektet trots att projektet befann sig tidigt i implementationen. Slutligen kan konstateras att MBSE, ILS och Lean är en möjlig kraftfull kombination för att förbättra tillgängligheten tidigt i ett projekts livscykel.

The Concurrent Design Platform 4 (CDP4®) is a collaborative Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) software tool conceived for architecting complex systems. Nevertheless, there are limitations concerning the manageable number of system options. The upcoming Siemens tool for generative engineering, Simcenter™ Studio, is attempting to overcome this limitation by enabling automatic synthesis and evaluation of architecture variants. The motivation for the Generative Concurrent Design (GCD) project as a collaboration between RHEA, Siemens and OHB is to develop a combined prototype of these two tools. This thesis presents a modelling of Copernicus Next Generation (CNG) space component, using generative capabilities in a typical Phase-0 study. It represents the third step of the bottom-up GCD validation process, intended to investigate how architecting differs among “Sub-system”, “Systems” and “Systems of Systems (SoS)”. Therefore, this work provides an architecting strategy which is generalizable for other SoS use-cases and contributes to assess whether extensions to ECSS-E-TM-10-25 are necessary to successfully support GCD. / Concurrent Design Platform 4 (CDP4®) är ett samarbetsverktyg för modellbaserad systemteknik (MBSE) som utformats för att bygga komplexa system. Dock finns det begränsningar vad gäller det antalet hanterbara systemalternativ. Det kommande Siemens-verktyget för generativ teknik, Simcenter™ Studio, försöker övervinna denna begränsning genom att möjliggöra automatisk syntes och utvärdering av arkitekturvarianter. Motivationen för Generative Concurrent Design (GCD) -projektet som ett samarbete mellan RHEA, Siemens och OHB är att utveckla en kombinerad prototyp av verktygen CDP4® och Simcenter™. Detta examensarbete presenterar en modellering av rymdkomponenten Copernicus Next Generation (CNG) med användning av generativa funktioner i en typisk fas-0-studie. Den representerar det tredje steget i GCD-valideringsprocessen nedifrån och upp, avsedd att undersöka hur arkitekturen skiljer sig åt mellan "Sub-system", "Systems" och "Systems of Systems (SoS)". Detta arbete ger därför en arkitektonisk strategi som är generaliserbar för andra SoS-användningsfall och bidrar till att bedöma om förlängningar till ECSS-E-TM-10-25 är nödvändiga för att framgångsrikt stödja GCD.

Energy and environmental impacts are two factors that will influence urban region composition in the near future. One emerging issue is the effect on water usage resulting from changes in regional or urban transportation trends. With many regions experiencing stresses on water availability, transportation planners and users need to combine information on transportation-related water consumption for any region and assess potential impacts on local water resources from the expansion of alternative transportation modes. This thesis will focus on use-phase water consumption factors for multiple vehicle modes, energy and fuel pathways, roads, and vehicle infrastructure for a given transportation network. While there are studies examining life cycle impacts for energy generation and vehicle usage, few repeatable models exist for assessing overall water consumption across several transportation modes within urban regions. As such, the question is: is it possible to develop a traceable decision support model that combines and assesses water consumption from transportation modes and related mobility infrastructure for a given mobility network? Based on this, an object-oriented system model of transportation elements was developed using the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) and Model-Based Systems Engineering principles to compare water consumption across vehicle modes for assessing the resiliency of existing infrastructure and water resources. To demonstrate the intent of this model, daily network usage water consumption will be analyzed for current and alternative network scenarios projected by policies regarding the expansion of alternative energy. The model is expected to show variations in water consumption due to fluctuations in energy pathways, market shares, and driving conditions, from which the model should help determine the feasibility of expanding alterative vehicles and fuels in these networks. While spatially explicit data is limited compared to the national averages that are used as model inputs, the analytical framework within this model closely follows that of existing assessments and the reusable nature of SysML model elements allows for the future expansion of additional transportation modes and infrastructure as well as other environmental analyses.

L'ingénierie des systèmes complexes et systèmes de systèmes conduit souvent à des activités de modélisation (MA) complexes. Les problèmes soulevés par les MA sont notamment : comprendre le contexte dans lequel elles sont exécutées, comprendre l'impact sur les cycles de vie des modèles qu'elles produisent, et finalement trouver une approche pour les maîtriser. L'objectif principal de cette thèse est d'élaborer une approche formelle pour adresser ce problème. Dans cette thèse, après avoir étudié les travaux connexes en ingénierie système et plus spécifiquement ceux qui portent sur la co-ingénierie du système à faire (le produit) et du système pour faire (le projet), nous développons une méthodologie nommée MODEF pour traiter ce problème. MODEF consiste en: (1) Caractériser les MA comme un système et plus généralement une fédération de systèmes. (2) Construire de manière itérative une architecture de ce système via la modélisation du contenu conceptuel des modèles produits par MA et leur cycle de vie, les tâches réalisées au sein des MA et leurs effets sur ces cycles de vie. (3) Spécifier les attentes sur ces cycles de vie. (4) Analyser les modèles (des MA) par rapport à ces attentes (et éventuellement les contraintes sur les tâches) pour vérifier jusqu'à quel point elles sont atteignables via la synthèse des points (ou états) acceptables. D'un point de vue pratique, l'exploitation des résultats de l'analyse permet de contrôler le déroulement des tâches de modélisation à partir de la mise en évidence de leur impact sur les modèles qu'elles produisent. En effet, cette exploitation fournit des données pertinentes sur la façon dont les MA se déroulent et se dérouleraient de bout en bout. A partir de ces informations, il est possible de prendre des mesures préventives ou correctives. Nous illustrons cela à l'aide de deux cas d'étude (le fonctionnement d'un supermarché et la modélisation de la couverture fonctionnelle d'un système). D'un point de vue théorique, les sémantiques formelles des modèles des MA et le formalisme des attentes sont d'abord données. Ensuite, les algorithmes d'analyse et d'exploitation sont présentés. Cette approche est brièvement comparée avec des approches de vérification des modèles et de synthèse de systèmes. Enfin, deux facilitateurs de la mise en œuvre de MODEF sont présentés. Le premier est une implémentation modulaire des blocs de base de MODEF. Le second est une architecture fédérée (FA) des modèles visant à faciliter la réutilisation des modèles formels en pratique. La formalisation de FA est faite dans le cadre de la théorie des catégories. De ce fait, afin de construire un lien entre abstraction et implémentation, des structures de données et algorithmes de base sont proposés pour utiliser FA en pratique. Différentes perspectives sur les composantes de MODEF concluent ce travail. / The engineering of complex systems and systems of systems often leads to complex modelling activities (MA). Some challenges exhibited by MA are: understanding the context where they are carried out and their impacts on the lifecycles of models they produce, and ultimately providing a support for mastering them. How to address these challenges with a formal approach is the central challenge of this thesis. In this thesis, after discussing the related works from systems engineering in general and the co-engineering of the system to be made (product) and the system for make (project) systems specifically, we position and develop a methodology named MODEF, that aims to master the operation of MA. MODEF consists in: (1) characterizing MA as a system (and more globally as a federation of systems) in its own right; (2) iteratively architecting this system through: the modelling of the conceptual content of the models produced by MA and their life cycles, the tasks carried out within MA and their effects on these life cycles; (3) specifying the expectations over these life cycles and; (4) analysing models (of MA) against expectations (and possibly tasks constraints) - to check how far expectations are achievable - via the synthesis of the acceptable behaviours. On a practical perspective, the exploitation of the results of the analysis allows figuring out what could happen with the modelling tasks and their impacts on the whole state of models they handle. We show on two case studies (the operation of a supermarket and the modelling of the functional coverage of a system) how this exploitation provides insightful data on how the system is end-to-end operated and how it can behave. Based on this information, it is possible to take some preventive or corrective actions on how the MA are carried out. On the foundational perspective, the formal semantics of three kinds of involved models and the expectations formalism are first discussed. Then the analysis and exploitation algorithms are presented. Finally this approach is roughly compared with model checking and systems synthesis approaches. Last but not least, two enablers whose first objectives are to ease the implementation of MODEF are presented. The first one is a modular implementation of MODEF's buildings blocks. The second one is a federated architecture (FA) of models which aims to ease working with formal models in practice. Despite the fact that FA is formalised within the abstract framework of category theory, an attempt to bridge the gap between abstraction and implementation is sketched via some basic data structures and base algorithms. Several perspectives related to the different components of MODEF conclude this work.

The study is conducted to determine practical modelling and simulation techniques to perform dynamic stability and performance analysis on a 3 Degrees of freedom aircraft model using a Modelica-based commercial tool called Modelon Impact. This study is based on a conceptual aircraft model where in-depth details about the aircraft configuration are unknown and the aim is to determine a suitable model that can capture the longitudinal dynamics and aerodynamic constraints of the aircraft during the conceptual design phase. Requirements include short execution time, easy model development, and minimal data requirements. Therefore, this thesis aims at developing plant and control architectures in  Modelon Impact which can be utilized for the rapid development of aircraft concepts with adequate fidelity in a longitudinal mission-based tracking environment. In a conceptual aircraft design environment, to identify a suitable methodology that mitigates the limitations of a traditional feedback controller, two methodologies are considered for comparison: Sequential DAE resolution (SDR) and Dynamic inversion (DI) control which is discussed from an object-oriented aircraft model. The advantages and shortcomings of each of the models discussed above are compared by conducting several experiments in increasing order of longitudinal mission complexity, and the most appropriate model among the two for a conceptual stage of aircraft design development is ascertained. The two methodologies discussed are compared for their level of complexity, code structure, readability, and ease of usability.