Engaging Supportability Analysis through Model-Based Design

BackgroundModel-based designs (MBD) provide an architecture framework to leverage design information within a digital thread for conducting supportability analyses. These analyses require common source data to develop assessments, trade studies, and provide design influence recommendations for the product. Design artifacts such as requirements, block diagrams, drawings and schematics provide the information needed to develop supportability analyses (e.g., reliability analyses, Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), fault tree analyses, testability analyses, level of repair analyses, and life cycle cost analyses). Model-based design capabilities support a common thread of data for utilization across multiple discipline areas and showcase the ability to employ a common model to perform various analyses. Functional architectures and diagrams contextualize a design, providing information needed by several engineering functions. Design engineering utilizes these functional representations to set up the detailed design. Supportability engineering design considerations are critical to ensuring that the design supports reliability, maintainability, testability, safety, and logistics features necessary to optimize product support. These principal supportability areas all require engagement and analyses of the design functions to achieve supportability goals. A model-based design paradigm provides a capability where the functional design aspects are integrated and streamlined rather than segregated. Benefits of the model-based design include analyses that are more efficient, enhanced design influence capability, and integrated design packages. Additionally, model-based designs foster more integration of supportability analyses within the hardware and software design. Design trade-offs and studies within the model provide opportunities for broader supportability assessment capability in comparison to stand-alone analyses. However, challenges such as configuration control of model updates within a multi-user environment must be comprehended and addressed to prevent unintended changes in effort. This paper provides an approach for how model-based designs can integrate principal supportability analyses and capabilities during the design phase of a program along with the challenges and issues faced within this environment.