Ontology and Model-based Systems Engineering

The subject of this paper is a framework that represents a new approach of information technology in the area of Systems Engineering. This framework enables us to specify, design, engineer, produce and maintain complex capital facilities, e.g. ships and infrastructure in an explicit and consistent way. The framework supports the needs of Systems Engineering according to ISO 15288 for unambiguous and explicit communication about such a facility between project participants, stakeholders, disciplines etc. during all life cycles by introducing an ontology for Systems Engineering. This ontology, derived from the data integration standard ISO 15926, facilitates interoperability, increases efficiency and reduces failure cost. The ontology in this paper enables model-based Systems Engineering and specifically describes a model-based approach of system breakdown structures on process level and on physical level by means of process functions, the Functional Object paradigm and a new approach of interface management by means of the port-interaction theory. The work presented in this paper is part of ongoing PhD-work by the author carried out at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.