Studying flexibility in modularisable vehicle systems

Abstract

Some systems continue working under partial failure; errors can be made in assessing the performance of such systems if static measures are used. Systems that appear to be equal on the basis of idealised data can perform differently under component loss. For some system features, such as component modularity, the evidence of benefits, based on static measures, is equivocal. We propose that a modular design will perform better than a nonmodular design under component loss. We consider two systems, each designed to a particular budget and completely effective over all variations contained in the design context. One of the systems has modular components. We use the mission criticality model to assess the benefits of introducing this component modularity and compare the results with a related static assessment. When demands are variable, the modular system is superior under component loss, due to its greater component redundancy. References

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