Practitioner requirements for integrated Knowledge-Based Engineering in Product Lifecycle Management.

The effective management of knowledge as capital is considered essential to the success of engineering product/service systems. As Knowledge Management (KM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) practice gain industrial adoption, the question of functional overlaps between both the approaches becomes evident. This article explores the interoperability between PLM and Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) as a strategy for engineering KM. The opinion of key KBE/PLM practitioners are systematically captured and analysed. A set of ranked business functionalities to be fulfiled by the KBE/PLM systems integration is elicited. The article provides insights for the researchers and the practitioners playing both the user and development roles on the future needs for knowledge systems based on PLM

A Tale of Two Data-Intensive Paradigms: Applications, Abstractions, and Architectures

Scientific problems that depend on processing large amounts of data require overcoming challenges in multiple areas: managing large-scale data distribution, co-placement and scheduling of data with compute resources, and storing and transferring large volumes of data. We analyze the ecosystems of the two prominent paradigms for data-intensive applications, hereafter referred to as the high-performance computing and the Apache-Hadoop paradigm. We propose a basis, common terminology and functional factors upon which to analyze the two approaches of both paradigms. We discuss the concept of "Big Data Ogres" and their facets as means of understanding and characterizing the most common application workloads found across the two paradigms. We then discuss the salient features of the two paradigms, and compare and contrast the two approaches. Specifically, we examine common implementation/approaches of these paradigms, shed light upon the reasons for their current "architecture" and discuss some typical workloads that utilize them. In spite of the significant software distinctions, we believe there is architectural similarity. We discuss the potential integration of different implementations, across the different levels and components. Our comparison progresses from a fully qualitative examination of the two paradigms, to a semi-quantitative methodology. We use a simple and broadly used Ogre (K-means clustering), characterize its performance on a range of representative platforms, covering several implementations from both paradigms. Our experiments provide an insight into the relative strengths of the two paradigms. We propose that the set of Ogres will serve as a benchmark to evaluate the two paradigms along different dimensions.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Supporting text mining for e-Science: the challenges for Grid-enabled natural language processing

Over the last few years, language technology has moved rapidly from 'applied research' to 'engineering', and from small-scale to large-scale engineering. Applications such as advanced text mining systems are feasible, but very resource-intensive, while research seeking to address the underlying language processing questions faces very real practical and methodological limitations. The e-Science vision, and the creation of the e-Science Grid, promises the level of integrated large-scale technological support required to sustain this important and successful new technology area. In this paper, we discuss the foundations for the deployment of text mining and other language technology on the Grid - the protocols and tools required to build distributed large-scale language technology systems, meeting the needs of users, application builders and researchers

Integrated system to perform surrogate based aerodynamic optimisation for high-lift airfoil

This work deals with the aerodynamics optimisation of a generic two-dimensional three element high-lift configuration. Although the high-lift system is applied only during take-off and landing in the low speed phase of the flight the cost efficiency of the airplane is strongly influenced by it [1]. The ultimate goal of an aircraft high lift system design team is to define the simplest configuration which, for prescribed constraints, will meet the take-off, climb, and landing requirements usually expressed in terms of maximum L/D and/or maximum CL. The ability of the calculation method to accurately predict changes in objective function value when gaps, overlaps and element deflections are varied is therefore critical. Despite advances in computer capacity, the enormous computational cost of running complex engineering simulations makes it impractical to rely exclusively on simulation for the purpose of design optimisation. To cut down the cost, surrogate models, also known as metamodels, are constructed from and then used in place of the actual simulation models. This work outlines the development of integrated systems to perform aerodynamics multi-objective optimisation for a three-element airfoil test case in high lift configuration, making use of surrogate models available in MACROS Generic Tools, which has been integrated in our design tool. Different metamodeling techniques have been compared based on multiple performance criteria. With MACROS is possible performing either optimisation of the model built with predefined training sample (GSO) or Iterative Surrogate-Based Optimization (SBO). In this first case the model is build independent from the optimisation and then use it as a black box in the optimisation process. In the second case is needed to provide the possibility to call CFD code from the optimisation process, and there is no need to build any model, it is being built internally during the optimisation process. Both approaches have been applied. A detailed analysis of the integrated design system, the methods as well as th

An ontology framework for developing platform-independent knowledge-based engineering systems in the aerospace industry

This paper presents the development of a novel knowledge-based engineering (KBE) framework for implementing platform-independent knowledge-enabled product design systems within the aerospace industry. The aim of the KBE framework is to strengthen the structure, reuse and portability of knowledge consumed within KBE systems in view of supporting the cost-effective and long-term preservation of knowledge within such systems. The proposed KBE framework uses an ontology-based approach for semantic knowledge management and adopts a model-driven architecture style from the software engineering discipline. Its phases are mainly (1) Capture knowledge required for KBE system; (2) Ontology model construct of KBE system; (3) Platform-independent model (PIM) technology selection and implementation and (4) Integration of PIM KBE knowledge with computer-aided design system. A rigorous methodology is employed which is comprised of five qualitative phases namely, requirement analysis for the KBE framework, identifying software and ontological engineering elements, integration of both elements, proof of concept prototype demonstrator and finally experts validation. A case study investigating four primitive three-dimensional geometry shapes is used to quantify the applicability of the KBE framework in the aerospace industry. Additionally, experts within the aerospace and software engineering sector validated the strengths/benefits and limitations of the KBE framework. The major benefits of the developed approach are in the reduction of man-hours required for developing KBE systems within the aerospace industry and the maintainability and abstraction of the knowledge required for developing KBE systems. This approach strengthens knowledge reuse and eliminates platform-specific approaches to developing KBE systems ensuring the preservation of KBE knowledge for the long term