Case study for network-distributed collaborative design and simulation: Extended life optimization for M1 Abrams tank road arm

A framework has been developed for distributed simulation and design of com plex systems, with particular application to complete vehicle systems. An o bject-oriented architecture has been adopted, enabling the use of distribut ed and heterogeneous computing resources, custom and commercial legacy soft ware, and different models and optimization tools. The industry standard, C ommon Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), is used to provide networ k-distribution services. To demonstrate the capabilities of the distributed design framework, this paper presents results of a study conducted to opti mize the life of an M1 Abrams tank road arm. This study demonstrates the re configurability of the design framework, as various computing resources, si mulation and analysis tools, and optimization algorithms are employed.