Integrated design support systems for conceptual design of a space power reactor

In the process of conceptual design of large and complex engineering system s such as a nuclear power reactor, there must be various human works by sev eral fields of engineers on each stage of design, analysis and evaluation. In this study, we have rearranged the design information to reduce the huma n workloads and have studied an efficient method to support the conceptual design works by new information technologies. For this purpose, we have dev eloped two design support environments for conceptual design of a space pow er reactor as a concrete design target. When constructing an integrated des ign support environment, VINES, which employs virtual reality(VR) technolog y, we focused on visualization of physical structure, functional organizati on and analysis calculation with full usage of easy perception and direct m anipulation of VR. On the other hand, when constructing another asynchronou s and distributed design support environment, WINES, which employs WWW tech nology, we improved the support functions for cooperative design works amon g various fields of experts. In this paper, the basic concepts, configurati ons and functions of the design support environments are first described. t hen the future improvement is surveyed by their intercomparison.