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A function‐centered framework for reasoning about system failure at multiple levels of abstraction
Author(s) -
Russomanno David J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
expert systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1468-0394
pISSN - 0266-4720
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0394.00105
Subject(s) - computer science , abstraction , ontology , function (biology) , knowledge base , expert system , component (thermodynamics) , conceptual design , architecture , software engineering , systems architecture , computer aided , systems engineering , artificial intelligence , human–computer interaction , programming language , art , philosophy , physics , epistemology , evolutionary biology , engineering , visual arts , biology , thermodynamics
This paper presents the knowledge organization for a simulation subsystem that is a component of a comprehensive expert system for failure modes and effects analysis. Organizing the simulation subsystem’s knowledge base around a function‐centered ontology produces an architecture that facilitates reasoning about an engineering design at multiple levels of abstraction and throughout the life‐cycle of the design. Moreover, the resulting architecture provides the capability for incorporating computer‐aided analysis and design tools early on into the conceptual design of an engineering system before a commitment is made to a specific technology to implement the system’s behavior. The result is an expert system simulation knowledge source that can be used to reason about the effects of system failures based on conceptual designs, i.e. designs in which commitments to an underlying technology to achieve the system’s function have not yet been made but computer‐aided assistance for reasoning about the system’s potential failure modes and effects is useful.