A knowledge-based system for numerical design of experiments processes in mechanical engineering

This paper describes a specific knowledge-based system (KBS) to assist designers in configuring numerical design of experiments (NDoE) processes efficiently. NDoE processes are applied in product design to improve the quality of product, by taking into account variabilities and uncertainties. NDoE processes are defined by various and complex methodologies to achieve several objectives, as optimization, surrogate modeling or sensitivity analysis. On the other hand, NDoE processes may demand huge computing resources to execute hundreds simulations, and also advanced expert knowledge to set the best configuration amongst numerous possibilities. Designers aim to obtain most useful results with a minimal computational cost as soon as possible. Thus, the configuration step must be as fast as possible, and it must lead to an efficient combination of complex methods, algorithms and hyper-parameters, to obtain valuable information on the product. The proposed KBS and its inference engine, a bayesian network, is detailed and applied to a product developed by automotive industry. The KBS propose new efficient configurations to achieve designers' goal. This application shorten the configuration step of the NDoE process, and enables designers to use more complex methods. It also allows designers to capitalize knowledge and learn from each past NDoE process. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.