Coupling symbolic manipulation and numerical simulation for complex engineering designs

This paper describes the factors limiting the effective use of numerical simulation codes in real-world design environments and presents the results of a multi-year research effort addressing this issue. A prototype generic design shell called Engineous was developed which makes use of basic human design knowledge codified in symbolic form to drive numerical simulation codes to achieve design objectives. The basic approach, software system architecture, and applications to real-world commercial products are presented.