Modelling and designing of the system properties based on characteristics and the degree of maturity on the example of a high pressure storage system

Abstract

The product development process (PDP) in the automotive industry, from design to series production, is a complex process. Increasing customer requirements and growing competition lead to a shortening of the development and innovation cycle of products. The definition of the requirements for new products is of major importance, especially when it comes to new developments, like new powertrain technologies. An extension of the present development procedure and the transformation of customer requirements into technical features and characteristics, is a challenge to be solved by the automobile industry. The consideration of external influences on the product portfolio or product strategy, such as the reduction of the maximum emission rates and the increasing competition in the established sales markets, is of high importance in the development. These require the application of new powertrain technologies. The transformation from traditional drive technologies to electro-mobility requires the integration of new components, like batteries or high-pressure storage systems, into existing platform/module strategies. In order to be able to define the maturity level of the component, e.g.The high-pressure storage, the assembly and the product group, a continuous analysis and synthesis of the features and characteristics is crucial. In this contribution, the relations between features and properties in the development process are based on Weber's Characteristics-Properties Modelling (CPM) approach. A development process is presented which assigns a maturity level and tolerance range to the features of a product / product group as well as the application in a product architecture. This approach allows the most important factors influencing the overall system to be mapped and the system to be optimized on a system level, accordingly. The method is presented based on the knowledge gained from a target-and application-oriented design of pressure storage tanks. Another important aspect is the recording and evaluation of changes in product properties depending on the development phase. The developed method can also be used to record the relationships of a module across platforms and contribute to the formulation of a conflict of objectives.