Optimization of excess system capability for increased evolvability

System evolvability is vital to the longevity of large-scale complex engineered systems. The need for evolvability in complex systems is a result of their long service lives, rapid advances to their integrated technologies, unforeseen operating conditions, and emerging system requirements. Building...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Structural and multidisciplinary optimization 2016-06, Vol.53 (6), p.1277-1294
Main Authors: Watson, J. D., Allen, J. D., Mattson, C. A., Ferguson, S. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Complex systems
Computational Mathematics and Numerical Analysis
Construction costs
Engineering
Engineering Design
Evolution
Operating costs
Optimization
Research Paper
Service life
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
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Summary:System evolvability is vital to the longevity of large-scale complex engineered systems. The need for evolvability in complex systems is a result of their long service lives, rapid advances to their integrated technologies, unforeseen operating conditions, and emerging system requirements. Building excess capability into complex systems can improve their ability to evolve while in service. However, excess capability increases initial build cost and operating cost, which is compounded across the service life of the system. Excess capability that is eventually used adds benefit by allowing for in-service evolution to meet emerging system requirements. Therefore, there is a trade-off between the cost of excess capability initially built into the system and the benefit that is added to the system by enabling future evolution. This paper introduces a process for optimizing the amount of excess capability in a complex system. This process results in a set of evolvable systems without excessive cost. We demonstrate how this process can be used to select the amount of excess capability that should be included in a military ground vehicle.
ISSN:1615-147X
1615-1488
DOI:10.1007/s00158-015-1378-x