Feature-based component models for virtual prototyping of hydraulic systems

This paper proposes a feature-based approach for the virtual prototyping of hydraulic systems. It presents a framework which allows the designer to develop a virtual hydraulic system prototype in a more intuitive manner, i.e. through assembly of virtual components with engineering data. The approach is based on identifying the data required for the development of the virtual prototypes, and separating the information into behaviour, structural, and product attributes. Suitable representations of these attributes are presented, and the framework for the feature-based virtual prototyping approach is established, based on the hierarchical structure of components in a hydraulic system. The proposed framework not only provides a precise model of the hydraulic prototype but also offers the possibility of designing variation classes of prototypes whose members are derived by changing certain virtual components with different features.