Digital Twin for Integration of Design-Manufacturing-Maintenance: An Overview

Traditional design, manufacturing and maintenance are run and managed independently under their own rules and regulations in an increasingly time-and-cost ineffective manner. A unified platform for efficient and intelligent design-manufacturing-maintenance of mechanical equipment and systems is highly needed in this rapidly digitized world. In this work, the definition of digital twin and its research progress and associated challenges in the design, manufacturing and maintenance of engineering components and equipment were thoroughly reviewed. It is indicated that digital twin concept and associated technology provide a feasible solution for the integration of design-manufacturing-maintenance as it has behaved in the entire lifecycle of products. For this aim, a framework for information-physical combination, in which a more accurate design, a defect-free manufacturing, a more intelligent maintenance, and a more advanced sensing technology, is prospected.