Automated Configuration Design of Hydraulic Systems

Configuration design is a type of design activity in which a set of pre-defined components can be combined in certain ways to design a system (Mittal and Frayman 1989). This paper focuses on the configuration design of power transmission systems in general and hydraulics systems in particular. We present a general framework for configuration design in which the design specifications are separated into basic functions, performance goals, and constraints. The design space is divided into a functional space and a physical space. Each are further organized into hierarchies of functional modules and generic physical devices respectively. Functional modules are representations of behaviors of physical devices and are domain-independent. Starting with design specifications, a skeletal design consisting of a network of essential functions is formed. Functions are mapped to physical devices that satisfy performance goals and constraints. Based on the framework presented in this paper, a knowledge-based design tool, called HYSYN (HYdraulics SYNthesizer), was developed. A design example of systematic configuration of hydraulic systems is also presented. Issues in automated configuration design issues, such as function-sharing, granularity of the building blocks, and combinatorial explosion, are also discussed.