Model-Based System Verification Applied to Spanish Navy's S80 Class Submarine Sustainment Case Study

Abstract

The emergence of model-based methods in systems engineering has been at the forefront of the discourse in complex system development in recent years. While MBSE is broadly seen as a model-centric approach to systems engineering, its implementation across industries has varied in terms of model usability and the extent of the SE processes covered by employing these models to use. Generally, MBSE methodologies promote using models to capture and allocate requirements, describe system's functional and structural definition, associated parametric constraints and in some cases, enable localized simulation capabilities. While such approaches have proven beneficial, MBSE still faces significant scalability challenges across the system development lifecycle, especially in the naval and maritime industries. This study explores a model-based system verification approach centered on developing multidomain system models that capture safety-critical functional behavior required to deliver mission capabilities while using those as orchestrators of functional failure assessment across multiple stakeholders through a cross-domain lifecycle collaboration platform. Using multiphysics control models, functional failures are analyzed, and results are captured in a configurable verification dataset that can be shared across the enterprise stakeholders. In a submarine program, the approach offers significant benefits such as granular model development, model-based communication across stakeholders, early detection of functional flaws and agility in complex system development programs to name a few.