Conceptualization of the use of Artificial Intelligence for Interdependencies Analysis in Requirements Engineering

The efficiency in product development is largely determined by the quality of the requirements and the ability of the product design and production planner to analyze them. Interdependencies between multiple requirements identified at an early stage enable a sustainable design of the product as well as the corresponding production system by increasing process efficiency as well as the effectiveness of development processes. However, the necessary analysis of complex interdependencies between requirements of a product and the corresponding production system is time-consuming, error-prone, and highly inefficient when performed manually. Current development processes are based on such manual processes for analyzing requirements in natural language and must therefore be adapted. This paper describes a methodical approach based on a semi-systematic literature review making the complexity of the interdependencies manageable by using existing approaches and methods in the field of model-based systems engineering (MBSE) as well as natural language processing (NLP). Thereby, a transition from informal requirements represented in natural language to analyzable and structured information, which enable interdependencies modeling for requirement chains, is described. A corresponding framework for analyzing interdependencies in the requirements engineering process is derived

Applicability of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Agile Product Development in the Internet of Production: A Strategic Framework

Evolving product complexities and customer demands in an increasingly unstable environment are challenging companies worldwide. Agile product development can help to overcome these challenges but originates in software development. It is argued whether it is completely transferable towards the build-up of physical products. This paper aims to support agile product development for physical products by classifying appropriate advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and identifying their demand for further research and development. A framework - the agile readiness level (ARL) for AMTs - is derived. It is consisting of five main factors of agile product development: testing & self-improvement, distribution & availability, accessibility for non-experts, time from idea to product, and overall flexibility. The ARL is evaluated for eight AMTs which are developed within the research cluster “Internet of Production” (IoP) at RWTH Aachen University. It is found that the ARL helps to identify similarities of diverse AMTs as well as research directions that need to be taken. It therefore contributes to the transfer of agile development methodologies from software to hardware products with the use of AMTs. Differences in technological feasibility for agile prototyping arise due to safety and complexity, targeted user group, and varying demands for support by artificial intelligence (AI) solutions

Identifying and evaluating flexible approaches for automobile body production areas

The increasing variety of models with simultaneously lower and more volatile quantities in the demanding environment of automotive engineering calls for flexible production systems. Considering an automobile production process, the body shop can be characterized as particularly inflexible. This results from highly product-specific and automated technical solutions such as rigid fixture systems and grippers, commonly used to fulfil the demanding geometrical requirements of body parts and the respective production system. Therefore, several approaches have been developed to increase the body production flexibility. This paper presents a three-step methodology to identify promising flexibilization approaches for each area of body production, comparing the flexibility needs of the area with the flexibility offers of specific flexibilization approaches. The outcome of this methodology enables body production planners to derive in which flexibilization approaches to invest and which approaches to discard

Lokale Wärmebehandlung mit Laserstrahlung zur Verbesserung der Umform- und Funktionseigenschaften von hochfesten Stählen

Lightweight construction is an effective method of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the automotive industry. At the same time, crash safety specifications are constantly being tightened. High-strength steels meet both requirements. However, these steels are more difficult to form than deep drawing steels since their higher strength compromises formability, especially when using tensile strength above 1000 MPa. The cold formability of high-strength steel blanks can be improved by locally changing the microstructure in critical areas with laser radiation prior to cold forming. The laser heat treated areas exhibit up to five times increased elongation in a tensile test. Thanks to the locally modified mechanical properties of the blanks, parts can be formed without necking or cracks in critical areas. Another way to combine high strength with a good formability is hot-stamping. In the case of the widely used Manganese Boron Steel 22MnB5, the tensile strength is 1600 MPa after hot stamping. But such high strength is not desired in the whole part. Deformation zones for better crash performance and zones for joining require a more ductile material, what can be achieved by local heat treating these zones with laser radiation. In this work, material and process characteristics of laser heat treatment of four different high strength steels are investigated: CP-W®800, Docol®1200 and MS-W®1200 are used for cold forming, 22MnB5 for hot-stamping. A fiber-coupled 10 kW high-power diode laser and optics with rectangular, homogeneous intensity distribution of up to 90 mm width are used. Process parameters, temperature, microstructure, hardness and mechanical properties are correlated for all investigated steels. Corrosion and tool friction are investigated for different coatings, to ensure automotive applicability. The laser heat treatment process is demonstrated for different parts. The properties of these parts (e.g. tensile strength, crash properties, geometry and distortion) are analyzed. B-pillars can be formed from 50 % stronger blanks than before, when using laser heat treated blanks. These B-pillars can resist higher forces in a side-impact-test. The laser heat treatment of hot-stamped parts results in an increase of the breaking elongation from below 5 % to more than 18 %. With 10 kW laser power, up to 15 cm²/s can be heat treated, depending on the coating. The energy cost are less than 0,10 Euro per part (2012)