A system modeling process based on SysML to support data consistency across system requirement, function, and solution model layers

Abstract

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a popular system engineering development method focusing on digital models as the primary mean of information exchange to improve communication across disciplines. To implement MBSE, the system model needs to be created to represent systems at different layers of abstraction, such as requirements, functional architectures, and solution designs throughout the development phase. Although many studies have mentioned the need to pay attention to the traceability between different layers of system models, there is still a lack of an automated system modeling process. This can lead to inefficiencies and even errors during the system modeling process. A semi-automated system modeling process based on Systems Modeling Language (SysML) is presented to overcome the issue. This work elaborates on a formalised modeling mechanism based on SysML elements to aid system engineers in system modeling with a function-oriented architecture. This work demonstrates and evaluates the proposed process by developing a wind turbine (WT) system model. The contribution of this study is that it realizes the semi-automatic top-down system modeling process. This ensures data inheritance and consistency between different system model layers of abstraction. It also reduces manual efforts and improves the efficiency of the system modeling process.