Chapter 6: System Design Models

The System Design Modeling component of medini analyze supports the modeling and management of all relevant design models in the SysML language ranging from system architecture, functions, over design, software, hardware, down to IP models at chip level.

The SysML editor enables the creation of SysML models for analysis purpose and most of the analyses require a model to work properly. The editor features modeling of structures such as blocks, containment, ports, and connections, as well as behavior such as functions, activities, and actions. The editor provides more flexibility than the strict language definition, but the underlying metamodel conforms to OMG's SysML[2]. Therefore models can be imported from various third-party modeling tools. For more details, as well as a list of supported tools, see About SysML Model Integration.

Ansys medini analyze adds safety extensions to SysML that embed concepts such as failure modes/malfunctions and failure rates into the language. These extensions make it possible to add this type of information directly to the elements. For example, a SysML part can carry failure modes and a failure rate (see also Safety Analysis Overview and Working with the failure net). Moreover, the object-oriented type concept is aligned with the safety extensions so that a block type can define a fault model (that is, failure modes, failure rates, distributions, and failure relations) of its typed parts. These concepts provide a powerful way to express common failure characteristics at the type which then can be parameterized using variables for the individual instances. For more details, see Editing Properties of Model Elements. These models are also the base for safety analysis as FTA, FMEA, and FMEDA (DC Worksheets) where data is re-used that is specified for system model elements.

As with all modeling concepts, you can specify trace relations between the elements of a SysML model to other artifacts of the project, such as safety requirements, HARA/FHA, FTA, FME(C)A, FMEDA, and cross-check consistency rules.



[2] Beginning with the 2022 R1 release, the metamodel converges towards version 2 of the SysML standard.