CAD Digital Twin Modeling for Fluid Flow Automation Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional engineering workflows for designing industrial automation systems require separate tools for mechanical and control engineering, leading to synchronization issues and the need for separate simulation models, which complicates the development and testing process.
Innovation Solution
An integrated CAD system that allows users to label mechanical CAD models with aspect metadata, transforming them into simulation-capable digital twins, and includes a library of fluid models for simulating fluid dynamics within the industrial process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If separate tools are used for mechanical and control engineering workflows, then each domain can be designed with specialized functionality, but synchronization between the two domains becomes difficult and requires separate simulation models
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines mechanical and control engineering workflows into a single integrated CAD system. The system allows users to create and annotate mechanical CAD models with control system information, enabling both mechanical and control simulations to be performed on a unified digital twin rather than requiring separate simulation models for each domain.
Solution Approach 2:
The CAD system is designed to be multi-functional, supporting both mechanical design and control system design within the same platform. The system can import various file formats (STEP, IGES, JT, STL) and provide comprehensive simulation capabilities for both mechanical and control aspects, eliminating the need for domain-specific separate tools.
2Reliability
If separate simulation models are created for mechanical and control systems, then each model can be optimized for its specific domain, but the development and testing process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically generating a control system simulation model from the mechanical CAD model annotations. When a user annotates a mechanical model with control system information, the system pre-generates the corresponding control simulation model, so that both mechanical and control simulations are ready simultaneously without requiring separate development time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital twin that copies and integrates both mechanical and control system representations. The control simulation model is essentially a copied and adapted version of the mechanical model's structure, with additional control-specific properties, allowing both domains to be simulated from a single source model.
3Ease of operation
If mechanical CAD models are transformed into simulation-capable digital twins with aspect metadata, then synchronization between mechanical and control engineering is facilitated, but the process requires an integrated system with fluid model libraries
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses aspect metadata as an intermediary layer between mechanical CAD models and simulation models. By annotating mechanical models with aspect metadata that describes control system behavior and fluid properties, the system enables automatic generation of simulation-capable digital twins without requiring a completely integrated system, as the metadata serves as a bridge.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters by adding aspect metadata properties to mechanical CAD models, transforming them from static geometric representations into dynamic simulation models. The aspect metadata includes parameters such as fluid properties, control system behavior, and operational characteristics, enabling the model to be used for both mechanical and control simulations.
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial CAD system is supplemented with features that allow a developer to easily convert a mechanical CAD model of an automation system to a dynamic digital twin capable of simulation within a simulation platform, including simulation of fluid dynamics throughout the system. The features allow the user to label selected elements of a mechanical CAD drawing with “aspects” within the CAD environment, and to add fluid models representing fluids that travel through or are processed by the system. Based on these aspect labels and fluid models, the CAD platform transforms the mechanical CAD model into a dynamic digital twin that can be exported to a simulation and testing platform to facilitate simulation of both machine operation and fluid dynamics.