The use of product models in engineering design

The use of product models in the design cycle in the aerospace industry is significant as it aids the implementation of concurrent engineering. The product model should consist of all the relevant data associated with the product, including geometry, analysis, loads, and material data, which are required to support development throughout the product life-cycle from concept through to detailed design, manufacture and support. Some of the technologies required to support product models range from computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), knowledge-based engineering systems (KBE), virtual reality (VR) and product data management systems (PDM). Major benefits can be gained by integration of these technologies to achieve coherent, linked associativity between all product data in support of a design, analysis and review process. Research work in Airbus UK Ltd is focusing on certain limitations of these tools, which will be described, in particular the navigation and interaction with different types and amounts of product data generated by using KBE systems.