PSI - Issue 46

Tamás Fekete et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 46 (2023) 189–196 Tamás Fekete / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2021) 000–000

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SI investigations of an in-service LSPS are intended to address a practical problem using an engineering method ology, where the engineering activities are designed to meet the effective needs of the industry. When it comes to discussing SI of LSPSs , this primarily refers to state-of-the-art, science-based R&D activities aimed at supporting the engineering activities that will serve the industry in the future at increasingly higher levels. Note that the concept of scientifically sound R&D activities also includes the occasional need to clarify fundamental methodological, or even conceptual, issues. In short, SI of LSPSs is the systematic development of engineering meth odologies using scientific methods , on which applications to serve the practical needs of future industry will be built. However, when dealing with the fundamentals, it seems inevitable to address fundamental metaphysical/ philosophi cal issues that are essential to solve certain of the underlying problems. To rephrase the above, the goal of SI of LSPSs is the scientific and systematic development of new engineering methods that will address real needs of the industry for the future. The scientific background in this area of concern stems from natural sciences, from physics of continua. In view of the mainstream trends in the development of the physical sciences over the last century, it may seem as if philosophical considerations have lost their relevance for the physical sciences and engineering –see Cellucci (2017, 1–5)–. In this connection, it would seem legitimate to ask whether philosophy still has, or can still have, a significant role to play in solving theoretical and practical problems based on the natural sciences. The somewhat hesitant question, based on the mainstream conception can be answered positively, in the sense that there is a line of thought in the contemporary literature that philosophy can play a signif icant role in solving these problems, if one evokes the original concept of philosophy originating in antiquity –going back at least to Aristotle–, according to which the aim of philosophy is primarily to acquire knowledge –see Celucci (2017) and Öttinger (2017)– and, by extension, to develop methodologies for acquiring knowledge Cellucci (2017) and Golosz (2021). The key to move on is that the essential way to acquire knowledge is problem solving . The Analytic Method put forth in Cellucci (2017, 149–198) is chosen as epistemic method, as it is compatible with: (1) Gödel's incompleteness theorems, (2) open systems, (3) models of science, as well as (4) models in science. The fundamental way to acquire knowledge is therefore problem solving by the Analytic Method –see Cellucci (2017)–. Therefore, at conceptual level, the SI issues of LSPSs can be grouped around four key concepts: philosophy , science , engineering , and industry / practice . The key concepts can be considered to form a consistent concept if it is considered that (1) each of the sub-areas identified by one of the four key concepts is a relatively independent, self-contained entity that can be used to provide complementary information about specific parts of the whole area, and that (2) they together form an entangled, coherent system. The Conceptual Framework of the SI of LSPSs having the features out lined here is denoted as the Generalized Conceptual Framework to Structural Integrity for LSPSs ; the internal struc ture that the concept follows is that proposed in Rousseau (2018), which is presented in Figure 1. The Conceptual Framework is organised into a four-level hierarchical structure, comprising (1) philosophical , (2) scientific , (3) engineering and (4) industrial domains/aspects. At Philosophical Level , fundamental strategic questions, postulates, and hypotheses are investigated. Philosophical speculations are primarily used as a tool for reflection, to define postulates and hypotheses on which further, in-depth scientific investigations of the subject can be based, giving a solid foundation for a theory. Philosophy can be the cornerstone of a theory/methodology. At Scientific Level , the focus is on issues and their solutions covered by the theoretical and empirical methods of science. At Engineering Level , engineering design problems and other specific aspects of engineering are investigated. At the Industry Level , issues concerning daily problem-solving practices in the context of industrial engineering are explored. In the hierar chically organized structure, shown on Figure 1., the hierarchical level of each layer gradually decreases from left to right. The right-pointing arrows indicate that knowledge acquired at a higher level governs thinking and actions at a lower level, while left-pointing arrows indicate a reflecting action: a reflective evaluation of the accumulated knowledge or of activities carried out at a lower hierarchical level, from the point of view of a higher level, helps to

Fig. 1. The four-level architecture of the Generalized Conceptual Framework for Structural Integrity of LSPSs –after Rousseau (2018)–.