Journal of Mechanical Design

companion website

FEATURED ARTICLES

Toward Holistic Design of Spatial Packaging of Interconnected Systems With Physical Interactions (SPI2)

Design of three-dimensional spatial packaging of interconnected systems with physical interactions (SPI2) plays a vital role in the functionality, operation, energy usage, and life cycle of a broad range of engineered systems, from chips to ships. SPI2 design problems are highly nonlinear, involving tightly constrained component placement, governed by coupled physical phenomena (thermal, hydraulic, electromagnetic, or other behaviors), and involve energy and material transfer through intricate geometric interconnects. While many aspects of engineering system design have advanced rapidly in the last few decades, including breakthroughs in computational support, SPI2 design has largely resisted automation and in practice requires the bottleneck of at least some human-executed placement and routing design. This article explores a vision of a holistic SPI2 design approach needed to develop next-generation automated design methods that dramatically reduce the time needed to design SPI2 systems and to increase the complexity of designable systems. We review several technical domains related to holistic SPI2 design, discuss existing knowledge gaps and practical challenges, examine exciting opportunities at the intersection of multiple domains to enable comprehensive exploration of SPI2 design spaces, and present one viable two-stage SPI2 design automation framework. Holistic SPI2 design opens up a new direction of high industrial and societal relevance for the design research community. 

Diverse examples of systems that present 3D SPI2 spatial packaging and routing complexity, subject to physical interactions, and exhibiting spatial accessibility challenges for life-cycle processes (which typically involve manual design): (a) the externals of a commercial turbofan engine covering the limited surface area of its core and fan case, (b) the refrigeration unit for a truck trailer, (c) an environmental control system, and (d) helicopter avionics hardware, interconnected by wire harnesses and thermal management pipes and ducts to reject electronics heat, presenting accessibility challenges in the front avionics bay. 

SHARE: 

Featured Articles Subjects

Additive Manufacturing
Ancient design
Artificial Intelligence
Associate Editors
Awards
Bioinspired Design
Complex Engineered Systems
Compliant Mechanisms
Composites
Data Driven Design
Data Mining
Data-driven Design
Design Automation
Design Communities
Design Education
Design Fixation
Design Innovation
Design of Mechanisms and Robotic Systems
Design Optimization
Design Research
Design Theory
Design Theory And Methodology
Digital Twin
Direct Contact Mechanisms
Double-Blind Review Option
Dynamics
Editors' Choice Award
Energy
Engineered Materials And Structures
Ethics
Fluids
Gears
Generative Design
Guest Editorials
IDETC
Industry
Information Design
International Perspectives
JMD History
JMD Review Process
JMD Statistics
Kinematics
Leadership
Machine Learning
Manufacturing
Mechanisms
Mechanisms Robotics
Memoriam
Neural Networks
Optimization
Origami
Orthotics
Piezoelectric Actuators
Power transmission gearing
Product Development
Robotics
Simulation-based Design
Smart Structures
Special Issues
Sustainable Design