A Three-Dimensional Bond Graph Visualization Tool to Improve Engineering System Design

One of the challenges for designers of complex engineering systems is to interpret large volumes of data that arise from multiple simulation studies. Numerical results need to be presented in relation to the geometry of the physical system or schematic model in order to encourage understanding of the simulated behavior and promote insight for improving the design. This paper presents a three-dimensional enhanced design environment for a broad class of engineering systems which has been developed and implemented using the concepts of Scientific Visualization. The design environment is based on the Bond Graph, supplemented with block diagram elements, as a modeling representation. The Bond Graph captures the interconnectedness of the system components and shows power pathways as energy is transferred within the system. Previously, construction of Bond Graph models has been limited to two-dimensional representations. The enhanced design environment allows for 3-D representation of a Bond Graph, which more closely conforms to physical system geometry. Animation of simulation results directly on this 3-D Bond Graph is provided to aid the designer in comprehending the system’s behavior. This is done principally by color coding of bonds corresponding to selected results. The tool for visualization of variable values on a 3-D Bond Graph was developed as a pilot design environment (BGVis-3D). A bounce-pitch-roll model of an automotive vehicle was simulated in this environment. Its behavior when encountering a pothole was investigated using BGVis-3D, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the tool.