Special Issue: Integrated Design and Operation of Engineering Systems With Predictive Modeling

Abstract

Growing trends toward increased complexity and prolonged useful lives of engineering systems present challenges for system designers in accounting for the impacts of post-design activities on system performance (e.g., costs, reliability, customer satisfaction, environmental impacts). Examples of the post-design activities include manufacturing, condition monitoring, remaining life prediction, operations and maintenance, service logistics, as well as end-of-life options. It is difficult to develop accredited lifecycle system performance models because these activities only occur after the system is built and operated. Thus, system design and post-design decision-making have traditionally been addressed separately, leading to suboptimal performance over the system’s lifecycle.