A Simulation-Based Robust Concept Exploration Method

In early stages of the engineering design process it is necessary to explore the design space to find a feasible range or point that satisfies the design requirements. When robustness of the system is among the requirements, the Robust Concept Exploration Method (RCEM) can be used. In RCEM a metamodel such as a global response surface of the entire design space is used. Based on this surrogate model the robustness of the system is evaluated. In nonlinear or multimodal design spaces a very detailed metamodel such as a very high order response surface might be required to reflect accurately the characteristics of the model. For large design spaces this is computationally very expensive. In this paper, using the Probabilistic Collocation Method (PCM) for generating local response models at the points of interest, a Simulation-Based RCEM is proposed as a very efficient and flexible robust concept exploration method. We believe that using the PCM with other design exploration methods would be equally effective.