A conceptual scheme improvement approach based on the performance value of the principle solution taking a coal mining machine as a case study

摘要

Improving existing schemes based on performance goals can have a significant impact on the final product. During the conceptual design stage, the design information is limited and non-numerical, and thus, refinement cannot be performed via existing numerical algorithms. In addition, a conceptual scheme is formed by combining the appropriate principle solutions for different subfunctions, and different principle solutions can achieve different degrees of subsequent product performance satisfaction. Therefore, obtaining an improved principle solution with the maximum performance value is a critical issue that should be solved via conceptual scheme improvement. This paper proposes the concept of the performance value of the principle solution, and a scheme is improved based on the proposed concept. First, a performance feature model is constructed to analyze the different types of performance information required by the core subfunctions. Second, a correlation matrix composed of the performance and subfunctions is built. Third, a knowledge representation model is defined to analyze the performance knowledge associated with each principle solution: then, a correlation matrix of the principle solution and performance is built. Finally, performance is employed as the correlation factor, and the two matrices are multiplied to obtain a performance value matrix that represents the performance satisfaction degree of the principle solutions of each subfunction. A principle solution with a high performance value is selected to improve the current principle solution. Based on the above analysis process, a prototype conceptual design scheme improvement solution system (CDSIS system) is developed to assist in obtaining new principle solutions for a coal mining machine, and scheme improvement is preliminarily achieved. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.