Analysis of hybrid vehicle architectures using multiple domain matrices

The use of MDMs in analyzing HEV architectures was presented. Once several baseline architectures can be described in an MDM format, the utility of performing basic subtraction and addition of architectures by means of ΔMDM and ∑MDM provide valuable information that can lead to an exploration of many more possible solutions. Ongoing research lies in using ΔMDM and ∑MDM information for an automated generation of a solution space using design synthesis rule based methods. The following list of steps summarizes the procedure being investigated: 1. Several known car architectures structures are constructed in MDM format 2. Individual architecture MDMs are compared using subtraction to form a ΔMDM analysis 3. A ∑MDM of all known architectures reveals patterns for rule generation, HEV typology, and a generic DMM for across all architectures is assembled 4. A 'components DSM' is generated from the rules in step 3 5. A 'functions DSM' is calculated using equation 1 to complete the MDM structure 6. The calculated 'functions DSM' is revised to fit a input-output logic based on energy and information flow rules 7. Clustering of 'functions DSM' reveals customer relevant functions.