A physical modeling assistant for the preliminary stages of finite element analysis

This paper describes work in progress aimed at developing an interactive modeling tool that assists engineers with the task of physical modeling in finite element analysis. Physical modeling precedes the numerical simulation phase of finite element analysis and involves applying modeling idealizations to real world physical systems so that complex engineering problems are more amenable to numerical computation. In the paper, the nature of physical modeling is explored, a cognitive model of how engineers are thought to model complex problems is described and based on this model a knowledge-based modeling assistant is proposed. The AI approach taken is based on Chandrasekaran's propose-critique-modify design model adapted for the task of physical modeling. Within this framework, the AI paradigms of case-based reasoning, derivational analogy and model-based reasoning are exploited. By representing fundamental thermal modeling scenarios as cases, complex physical systems can be modeled in a piecewise fashion. Derivational analogy permits generative adaptation of retrieved cases by using model-based engineering traces thereby providing a basis for critiquing case solutions. An initial prototype is described which has been implemented for the domain of convection heat transfer analysis.