Change propagation analysis for system modeling using Semantic Web technology

Change propagation potentially affects many aspects of a SysML-based system model during the iterative process of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). However, few authors have addressed the implication of engineering change and its impact. To address having a successful change process, this article analyzes and explicitly represents different scenarios of how a system model is changed from a formal perspective, i.e., how a system model should be changed, and how model elements should be added, deleted or modified in response to design changes. A workflow is introduced to guide the change process taking change propagation into account. Second, change impact relationships among requirements, behaviors, and structures of the system model are formalized by an ontology to make the semantics both human-understandable and machine-readable. Reasoning rules are defined as well in order to improve automation of the change process. Finally, an experiment using a water distiller system showed that the identification of change impact information could help designers complete the change in less time and with higher quality.