Design Language for Airplane Geometries Using the Unified Modeling Language

Abstract

The design language allows the construction of a variety of airplan designs. The syntax of the design language relies on the standardized Unified Modeling Language (UML) and consists of an object-oriented vocabulary (i.e. points, lines, profiles, wings, etc.) comparable to building blocks, and design rules (i.e. building laws) which represent the building knowledge used. In the terminology of graph-based design languages, the building blocks are the information objects which represent the static aspects of the design because they represent indivisible design entities. They are represented as UML classes and instances and their interrelation forms an object-oriented class hierarchy. The design rules represent the dynamic aspects of the design and express the building knowledge as stepwise activities. Finally, a production system (i.e. a specific rule set) is able to create an airplane geometry and generates design variants through manual modifications of the production system.