Automating manufacturability evaluation in CAD systems through expert systems approaches

Design for Manufacturability (DFM) represents a new awareness of the importance of product design as an integral part of manufacturing activities. Good design guidelines exist in industry for frequently used manufacturing processes. These guidelines are systematic statements of good design practices, empirically derived over years of design and manufacturing experience. Ensuring that the given product design conforms to each of the guidelines specific to the selected process results in better manufacturability. To meet the objectives of the DFM approach, design and manufacturing planning activities have to be combined into a single engineering effort and applied througout the life cycle of a product. Computer-aided design (CAD) systems offer powerful features such as the ability to develop complex solid models and perform engineering analyses, including stress analysis, interobject interference, collision detection, and inertial analysis. However, a prominent limitation faced by designers in CAD systems is the lack of “intelligence.” Though designs could be developed, analyzed, and perfected from a functional viewpoint in CAD systems, manufacturability consideration may get little or no attention at all. As a result, product designs that are functionally sound may be developed at a high manufacturing cost. Thus, intelligence should be incorporated in CAD systems, whereby product designs could not only be developed and analyzed but also evaluated for cost and manufacturability. This study attempts to perform this task automatically in a CAD system using a knowledge-based approach: the manufacturability criteria are considered for milling and drilling operations performed on a computerized numerically controlled (CNC) milling machine. The results obtained from the application of the expert system suggest that the expert systems methodology is a feasible method for implementing manufacturability evaluation capability in CAD systems.     

Some approaches to integration

The integration of CAD and CAM is one of the weightiest of the so far unsolved (or only partially solved) problems that are proving to be grave obstacles to the computer-integrated manufacturing systems that we have all envisaged over a number of years. There are two main reasons for this. One is the failure to apply a design methodology conducive to integration; the other is the lack of a clearly suitable principle around which the integration should take place. The lack of a methodical, overall system design directed towards integration from the outset is due not so much to the absence of suitable methodologies (in fact, quite a few have been developed), as to their failure to gain acceptance in industrial practice.

As regards the integrative principle that can provide the core around which a CAD/CAM system can be built, opinions differ widely. One fashionable trend considers geometric modellingto be the “all-saving” principle. Others allot this role to process planning, family-of-parts classification, databases and their management, distributed systems architectures and their implementations. Following their various traditions, various countries are pursuing different courses based on these and other principles.

It is apparent (and appreciated by all the countries concerned) that none of the methods that they have separately or jointly developed is as yet suitable for the fool-proof design and implementation of the “factory of the future”. However, they all have something to offer and have allowed spectacular progress to be made. There is widespread agreement that it is only the synthesis of the extent approaches, the deepening of our theoretical understanding, and above all the acquisition and sharing of much practical experience that can lead to a usable “science” of integration.     

A database system of mechanical components based on geometric and topological similarity. Part II: indexing, retrieval, matching, and similarity assessment

This paper presents an approach for retrieving and matching similar designs in a database of mechanical components. The retrieval and matching process is based on the geometric and topological similarity between mechanical components. The process constitutes five steps: (i) transforming the component from the CAD system in STEP format, (ii) building an attributed graph for it, (iii) abstracting the graph into some geometric entities, (iv) retrieving a set of similar graphs based on the abstracted data, and (v) matching the graph of the new design with each graph on the set of similar graphs. This paper addresses the last three steps. Retrieving and matching mechanical parts based on their shape has many applications such as cost estimation and process planning. Matching similar parts and calculating a similarity index for them has applications in manufacturing evaluation, design by case-based reasoning, robotics, and computer integrated manufacturing. Having a database system of mechanical components based on part shape serves in all of these applications.     

Group technology applications in manufacturing operations through the computer system

The typical manufacturing facility is constantly developing new product designs and related manufacturing processes. The increased volume of new designs and processes causes rapid and inefficient construction of product designs and manufacturing processes. Many parts and manufacturing processes are developed over the life cycle of a production facility with no organized means of cataloging this past and present data. This procedure is extremely ineffective because there is no way to determine if a part or process has been previously developed. The constant “reinventing of the wheel” creates a tremendous waste of manpower and cost.

One approach to solving this problem is through the use of group technoogy. Group technology is the identification and grouping of similar parts and processes in order to take avantage of their similarities in the design and manufacturing process. Parts and processes can be grouped under a classification and implemented with a coding system. Concurrently, the number of parts and processes can be reduced by putting them in a “family.” This “family” has common characteristics such as shape, size, color, tolerance or production operations.

For handling and manipulation of this data, a computer system has been developed. The computer system would set up a reporting format that would classify, code and group the parts and processes, so the user can analyze if a previously designed process or part can be used in the current system and/or if a better layout can be feasible.

Many advantages such as reduced inventory cost, increased facility space and better utilization of manpower are but a few of the benefits from this system.     

Simulation and design of a dual-kanban production system

A procedure to evaluate system design parameters for “pull” production strategies is presented in this paper. The evaluation procedure is based on a cost function which includes the inventory carrying, storage, setup, stockout, and idle costs. A combined SLAM II/FORTRAN simulation model and electronic spreadsheets support the evaluation procedure. A “pull” production strategy using the dual-kanban production control method is modeled. The best design in terms of unit load size/number of kanbans is found to (a) satisfy daily production requirements and (b) minimize the cost function.     

Shape optimization of heavy load carrying components for structural performance and manufacturing cost

This paper addresses the trade-off between structural performance and manufacturing cost of heavy load carrying components by incorporating virtual machining (VM) technique in computer-aided design (CAD)-based shape optimization problem. A structural shape optimization problem is set up to minimize total cost, subject to the limits on structural performance measures. For every design iteration, finite element analysis (FEA) is conducted to evaluate structural performance, and VM is employed to ascertain machinability and estimate machining time. Design sensitivity coefficients of objective function and constraints are computed and supplied to the optimization algorithm. Based on the gradients, the algorithm determines design changes, which are used to update FEA and VM models. The process is repeated until specified convergence criterion is satisfied. Application programs developed to integrate commercially available CAD/CAM/FEA/Design optimization tools enable implementation in virtual environment and facilitate automation. The application programs can be reused for similar design problems provided that the same set of tools is used.     

The process planner''s work place today and tomorrow

Process planning (PP) is perhaps the most difficult task in the area of production planning. It is the first task to be performed after the design phase and it establishes the necessary link between CAD and the manufacturing. The main purpose of PP is to select manufacturing processes and operations, machine tools, and clamping devices for optimal production. Needs for quality planning and design of special tools are also often initiated from the PP phase. PP has to be carried out with respect to available resources and the technological “know how” of the company and is, therefore, dependent on very skilled planners. Very good sw-systems exist.8     

A graph-theoretic approach to conceptual design with functional perspectives

This paper explores the concepts of concurrency in design and develops an approach that involves reliability and other functional perspectives at the conceptual design stage. The paper uses graph theory to represent a product and define the relationships between its components. It employs the graph-theory concepts of the “tree” and the “forest” to represent a functional design artefact and idle condition, respectively.

The approach presented in the paper provides a more refined visualisation of the energy flow and is applicable to numerous designs including sliding gears, clutches, overrunning clutches and flywheels, amongst others. It can be used to concurrently modify the design taking into consideration various constraints, e.g. expected mechanical failures and cost considerations. A case study is presented to illustrate the benefits of the approach discussed in the paper.     

基于图像几何形状特征的CBIR算法

张量尺度是一种基于图像几何形状的特征描述子,由于其特征提取过程计算复杂度较高,不适合于快速的基于内容的图像检索。提出一种基于图像森林变换的张量尺度特征提取快速算法,并采用归一化的张量尺度方向直方图作为图像几何形状的特征描述子,与相似性度量标准结合,实现了一种具有图像平移、旋转、尺度变换不变特性的基于内容的图像检索算法。与现有的张量尺度计算方法相比,该算法具有较低的计算复杂度,仿真实验结果证明算法的有效性。     

Extraction of geometric characteristics for manufacturability assessment

One of the advantages of feature-based design is that it provides data which are defined as parameters of features in readily available forms for tasks from design through manufacturing. It can thus facilitate the integration of CAD and CAM. However, not all design features are features required in down stream applications and not all parameters or data can be predefined in the features. One of the significant examples is property that is formed by feature interactions. For example, the interaction of a positive feature and a negative feature induces a wall thickness change that might cause defects in a part. Therefore, the identification of the wall thickness change by detecting the feature interaction is required in the moldability assessment.The work presented in this paper deals with the extraction of geometric characteristics in feature-based design for manufacturability assessment. We focus on the manufacturability assessment of discrete parts with emphasis on a net shape process—injection molding. The definition, derivation and representation of the spatial relationships between features are described. The geometric characteristics formed by feature interactions are generalized as significant items, such as “depth”, “thickness”, “height” etc. based on the generalization of feature shapes. Reasoning on feature interactions and extraction of geometric characteristics is treated as a refinement procedure. High-level spatial relationships—“is_in”, “adjacent_to” and “coplanar” as well as their geometric details are first derived. The significant items formed from feature interactions are then computed based on the detailed spatial relationships. This work was implemented in a computer-aided concurrent product and process development environment to support molding product design assessment.     

基于傅里叶变换的形状上下文描述方法

提出了一种新的基于傅里叶变换的形状上下文描述方法,与以前的形状上下文描述子相比,增加了天然的旋转不变性,同时描述子本身也更加简洁.该傅里叶形状描述子,将全局采样点的分布信息有机地结合到了每个采样点的特征描述中去,从而使代表不同形状的采样点集可以得到准确的鉴别匹配.进一步考虑点集之间仿射变换的代价,从而可以很好地运用到二维形状分类识别问题中去.该方法满足平移、缩放、旋转三个不变性,在形状有遮挡、缺损的情况下都可以取得较好的容错识别效果.     

Program greatly improves production cost estimate

During the past few years, IBM San Jose has experienced increasing needs for better ways to model and estimate production costs of products such as magnetic heads, magnetic disks and circuit cards. More precise projections are needed to establish accurate pricing structure, evaluate manufacturing performance and provide an index for evaluating production improvements aimed at reducing costs.

To answer such needs, a unique new process estimating program has been developed and applied successfully. This program represents a major step forward in cost and productivity estimating. It provides data useful in many areas—cost engineering, manufacturing engineering and finance—and is designed to “bridge” to additional systems in the future.     

Justification of new technologies through the use of “cause and effect” analysis: Case of tile replacement at Kennedy space center

This paper presents a case of introducing new technology to a single stage in a maintenance operation composed of sequence of stages. The process - Thermal tile replacement - is a low volume, high value operation. A method for data collection at each stage, to estimate the variability in process quality, cost and duration is presented. The method involves: Identifying key product features, accuracy measure for each, rate of product rejection by feature and the associated probability density functions at each stage. The method relates accuracy variability by feature, “effect” to the contributing stage in the process “cause”. Simulation is used to justify the introduction of a new technology and to predict the percentage of product conformity in a “before” and “after” scenarios for the implementation of the new technology. The simulation model enables the quantification of technology impact on the product quality, overall productivity and the associated cost savings.     

CAD — State of the art and a tentative forecast

The most important contemporary phenomenon in the mechanical engineering applications of CAD is the very rapid proliferation of systems, even in small and medium companies, driven by market imperatives and attracted by vastly improved cost/performance indices. The systems have expanded “upwards” from drafting to the modelling and analysis areas and “downstream” to process planning and documentation.Outstanding trends for the future are the use of knowledge-engineering techniques for problem solving, of novel database structures for intergrating data-growth over the product cycle, and of distributed architectures for building cooperative systems.     

Sketching space

In this paper, we present a sketch modelling system which we call Stilton. The program resembles a desktop VRML browser, allowing a user to navigate a three-dimensional model in a perspective projection, or panoramic photographs, which the program maps onto the scene as a “floor” and “walls”. We place an imaginary two-dimensional drawing plane in front of the user, and any geometric information that user sketches onto this plane may be reconstructed to form solid objects through an optimisation process. We show how the system can be used to reconstruct geometry from panoramic images, or to add new objects to an existing model. While panoramic imaging can greatly assist with some aspects of site familiarisation and qualitative assessment of a site, without the addition of some foreground geometry they offer only limited utility in a design context. Therefore, we suggest that the system may be of use in “just-in-time” CAD recovery of complex environments, such as shop floors, or construction sites, by recovering objects through sketched overlays, where other methods such as automatic line-retrieval may be impossible. The result of using the system in this manner is the “sketching of space” — sketching out a volume around the user — and once the geometry has been recovered, the designer is free to quickly sketch design ideas into the newly constructed context, or analyse the space around them. Although end-user trials have not, as yet, been undertaken we believe that this implementation may afford a user-interface that is both accessible and robust, and that the rapid growth of pen-computing devices will further stimulate activity in this area.     

CAD tools for aesthetic engineering

The role of computers and of computer-aided design tools for the creation of geometrical shapes that will be judged primarily by aesthetic considerations is reviewed. Examples are the procedural generation of abstract geometrical sculpture or the shape optimization of constrained curves and surfaces with some global ‘cost’ functional. Different possibilities for such ‘beauty functionals’ are discussed. Moreover, rapid prototyping tools based on layered manufacturing now add a new dimension to the visualization of emerging designs. Finally, true interactivity of the CAD tools allows a more effective exploration of larger parts of the design space and can thereby result in an actual amplification of the creative process.