An Object-Oriented Application Framework for Distributed Engineering Analysis and Optimization

Abstract

This paper presents the overall architecture of the VADOR application framework. The purpose of the VADOR framework is to enable the seamless integration of commercial and in-house analysis applications in a heterogeneous, distributed computing environment, and to allow the deployment of automatic design optimization algorithms based on the framework. VADOR is being developed in close collaboration with bombardier aerospace, who provides actual analysis applications, design processes in need of automation and test ground for the framework.

A multi-tiered client-server architecture has been proposed for the framework, which comprises a client gui for interactive data definition and execution launching, separate data and execution servers, and autonomous remotely executable application wrappers. This paper mainly focuses on the global framework architecture, and presents detailed discussions of the client GUI, data and execution servers, and of the common underlying object model. A companion paper presents and discusses the remotely executable application wrappers and communication protocol. Both analysis data and optimization algorithms are encapsulated in an object layer managed at the framework level. Among the services provided by this objects layer, ownership control, versioning and sharing of all framework components are among the most significant for a large corporation such as bombardier.