Satisfactory design of railway passenger cars using sensitivity analysis and empirical knowledge.

Railway passenger car bodies have been parametrically designed based on empirical knowledge of expert designers. To meet demands for systematic and satisfactory design, this paper presents a new computer aided design method to determine satisfactory structures and dimensions using sensitivity analysis and empirical knowledge. Data of a tentatively designed structure is inputted into a computer using a product modeling technique. The structure produces an evaluation model consisting of sections called blocks which in turn consist of components. Introducing sensitivity analysis we can evaluate the effectiveness of the weak parts of all blocks and all parameters of the components. Responding to the analysis in terms of empirical knowledge, the priority list of parameters to be modified is decided, since designers expect the new method to be as usable as conventional methods. On a railway passenger car we obtained a practical solution in less than 28 hours, after examining all possible cases of the modification.