UNIFIED LIFE CYCLE ENGINEERING DESIGN SYSTEM

KDT INDUSTRIES, INC., IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, PROPOSES A RESEARCH PROGRAM LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE ANALYSIS TOOL FOR THE DESIGN OF MECHANICAL PARTS. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM INVOLVES INTEGRATION OF EXISTING AND NEWLY DEVELOPED TOOLS IN THE AREAS OF FEATURE-BASED SOLID MODELING, COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN, COMPUTER-AIDED MANUFACTURING, FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS, AND EXPERT SYSTEMS. THE RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON THE LIFE-CYCLE DESIGN ISSUES RELATING TO SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION SUCH AS COST AND PERFORMANCE. THE RESULTING SYSTEM WILL CONCURRENTLY ADDRESS AND INTEGRATE THE DESIGN, MANUFACTURING, OPERATIONAL AND SUPPORT PHASES OF A PARTICULAR CLASS OF MECHANICAL PARTS. THIS RESEARCH WILL LEAD TO A SYSTEM THAT WILL SUPPORT AIR FORCE AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES BY AIDING DESIGN AND SYSTEM ENGINEERS. BY UTILIZING EXISTING AS WELL AS NEWLY DEVELOPED TOOLS, THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL LEVERAGE EXISTING RESOURCES, THUS DECREASING THE LIFE-CYCLE COST OF LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS SYSTEMS. IN PHASE I, A LIMITED SYSTEM CONCEPT WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT ADDRESSES A SPECIFIC PART OR SYSTEM OF PARTS THAT HAS MANY AIR FORCE APPLICATIONS.