Design robustness system (DRS): new concepts for robustness analysis

This paper describes a methodology for analyzing and visualizing the robustness of powertrain system designs, with the intent of incorporating robustness considerations into the early design process. Included are details of the fundamental ideas, how data can be collected, analyzed, and stored in the system, and presented and used by the designer. The ability for engineers and designers to be able to assess the powertrain system´s robustness to noises, foreseeable faults, environmental effects, aging, and manufacturing tolerances becomes increasingly important as market forces demand reductions in costs and redundancy within these systems. This system can be used to assess current system design performance and robustness, to identify critical problem areas in designs for recommended changes, and to compare and evaluate various design options. Input information that is used by DRS may be acquired from development vehicles, test cell experiments, dynamic powertrain system models, or from corporate or user´s general knowledge of system operating characteristics