Verifying SysML activity diagrams using formal transformation to Petri nets

The development of contemporary systems is an extremely complex process. One approach to modeling system behavior uses activity diagrams from Unified Modeling Language (UML)/System Modeling Language (SysML), providing a standard object‐oriented graphical notation and enhancing reusability. However, UML/SysML activity diagrams do not directly support the kind of analysis needed to verify the system behavior, such as might be available with a Petri net (PN) model. We show that a behavior model represented by a set of fUML‐compliant modeling elements in UML/SysML activity diagrams can be transformed into an equivalent PN, so that the analysis capability of PN can be applied. We define a formal mathematical notation for a set of modeling elements in activity diagrams, show the mapping rules between PN and activity diagrams, and propose a formal transformation algorithm. Two example system behavior models represented by UML/SysML activity diagrams are used for illustration.