Analysis of the uncertain dynamic behavior of an automotive control unit using the component mode transformation method

The component mode transformation method is a novel approach, developed to analyze the dynamics of systems affected by uncertainties in their dynamic parameters. This method provides a reliable improvement of the computational performance of the original transformation method, which represents a practical tool to generally analyze systems with uncertain parameters. The uncertain parameters of the system are modeled by fuzzy numbers in contrast to random numbers used in stochastic approaches. As a result of this fuzzy arithmetical analysis, a quantification of the overall uncertainty of the system outputs, including a worst-case scenario, is provided. The component mode transformation method uses the component mode synthesis approach to drastically reduce the number of model evaluations required in the framework of the transformation method, so that a significant reduction of the overall computing time is obtained. As an example, the dynamic behavior of an automotive control unit, consisting of a constrained circuit board, is studied using both the original transformation method and the component mode transformation method. Finally, advantages and drawbacks of the proposed method are discussed. © (2006) by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Department of Mechanical Engineering All rights reserved.