Design and Manufacturing of Large Amusement Devices for Performance and Reliability with Qualitative Reasoning

Abstract:

Everyday engineering work is rife with uncertainty and complexity. Some of the uncertainty stems from highly variable natural phenomena such as wind and earthquakes. More prevalent is the uncertainty that arises from a simple lack of knowledge, especially in complex problems. This paper describes the key considerations of designing, manufacturing, and installing large amusement devices, with characteristics complex and uncertain by nature. A range of techniques for engineering decision-making and reasoning in the presence of uncertainty and complexity are described. The techniques may be applied throughout the design and manufacturing process, but are particularly effective in the early or conceptual stages, which are characterized by greater uncertainty than the latter design phases. The techniques described include qualitative reasoning, adaptive interval plotting, design space mapping, and design space reliability estimation. These methods allow the engineer to solve and visualize the design space. In contrast to engineering problem-solving approaches which find a single point configuration, a design space may include a large number of feasible solutions. The range of solutions may be used effectively in engineering decision making.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 476-478)
• Pages: 1079-1088
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.476-478.1079
• Online since: February 2012
• Authors: Ye Zhou, Wei Wang
• Keywords: Amusement Devices, Decision Theory, Fatigue, Interval Arithmetic, Probability Theory, Qualitative Analysis, Roller Coaster, Steel Fabrication, Structural Engineering, Uncertainty

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