In distributed design processes, individual design subsystems have local control over design variables and seek to satisfy their own individual objectives, which may also be influenced by some system level objectives. The resulting network of coupled subsystems will either converge to a stable equilibrium or diverge in an unstable manner. In this paper, we study the dependence of system stability on the solution process architecture. The solution process architecture describes how the design subsystems are ordered and can be either sequential, parallel, or a hybrid that incorporates both parallel and sequential elements. In this paper, we demonstrate that the stability of a distributed design system does indeed depend on the solution process architecture chosen, and we create a general process architecture model based on linear systems theory. The model allows the stability of equilibrium solutions to be analyzed for distributed design systems by converting any process architecture into an equivalent parallel representation. Moreover, we show that this approach can accurately predict when the equilibrium is unstable and the system divergent when previous models suggest that the system is convergent.
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e-mail: kelewis@buffalo.edu
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October 2011
Research Papers
The Impact of Process Architecture on Equilibrium Stability in Distributed Design
Erich Devendorf,
Erich Devendorf
Graduate Research Assistant
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Kemper Lewis
e-mail: kelewis@buffalo.edu
Kemper Lewis
Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo – SUNY
, Buffalo, NY 14260
Search for other works by this author on:
Erich Devendorf
Graduate Research Assistant
Kemper Lewis
Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo – SUNY
, Buffalo, NY 14260e-mail: kelewis@buffalo.edu
J. Mech. Des. Oct 2011, 133(10): 101001 (12 pages)
Published Online: September 27, 2011
Article history
Received:
December 30, 2010
Revised:
June 17, 2011
Online:
September 27, 2011
Published:
September 27, 2011
Citation
Devendorf, E., and Lewis, K. (September 27, 2011). "The Impact of Process Architecture on Equilibrium Stability in Distributed Design." ASME. J. Mech. Des. October 2011; 133(10): 101001. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4004463
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