A method is introduced to improve the conceptual design of turbine blade cooling systems. It delivers greater insights, enables flexibility to explore the design space and provides a more mature start to a conventional design cycle. System representations are rapidly developed using 3-D sketch-based computer models based on idealised, imprecise geometry. Process bottlenecks are eliminated, accelerating design feedback to guide changes. Computational fluid dynamics models provide qualitative coolant flow information. Rapid-prototype models indicate core suitability. An example is presented: coolant flow and core quality are progressively improved and changes made to transform the system style. ... Read more

Process modelling can play an important part in understanding and improving engineering design processes. Meta-data, i.e., numerical information describing the state of a process, can be used to enhance modelling fidelity and to measure predicted behaviour. We explore the application of metadata using a proxy process represented using an Applied Signposting Model. The proxy has been derived from a model of the turbine cooling system design process. We argue that meta-data can be used to control the flow of the modelled process, to couple the behaviour of concurrent sub-processes and to provide quantitative feedback about the process behaviour. We also show that alternative process configurations can be developed to deliver improved performance within the same structure of activities and information flow, and use simulation results to identify such configurations. ... Read more