Infrastructure PLM pour la capitalisation et la réutilisation de données en conception mécanique

La conception collaborative entraîne la spécification et le développement d'outils de support de plus en plus complexes et variés. Les outils de gestion du cycle de vie (PLM – Product Lifecycle Management) offrent une large gamme de fonctionnalités pour la conception collaborative. Ces produits permettent de rapprocher les utilisateurs en leur fournissant des plateformes logicielles identiques. De plus, les besoins croissant de réutilisation des données conduisent les utilisateurs à définir des règles et des paramètres permettant d'enrichir leurs modèles numériques pour faciliter d'éventuelles modifications. Cependant, si les logiciels experts offrent pour la plupart des possibilités de définition de règles métiers, force est de constater qu'aucun PLM, à l'heure actuelle, ne propose de fonctionnalités de ce type. Dans ce contexte, cet article propose de comparer sur la base de critères techniques et organisationnel les principales architecture PLM existantes. Cette comparaison permet d'identifier une architecture pertinente pour le développement de fonctionnalités de gestion de règles expertes intégrées à l'application PLM

Intelligent Analysis of Utilization of Special Purpose Machines for Drilling Operations

Drilling and drilling-related operations constitute more than 60% of all machining processes in manufacturing industries. Consequently, it is important to know how to perform these operations properly. With availability of many machining processes capable of performing drilling operations sometimes it is difficult to decide which process would result in a higher profit or a lower unit cost for a given task. Due to increasing global competition, manufacturing industries are now more concerned with their productivity and are more sensitive than ever to their investments with respect to flexibility and efficiency of production equipment (Boothroyd and Knight, 2005, Wecka and Staimer, 2002). Researchers (Ko et al., 2005) believe that increasing the quality of production and reducing cost and time of production are very important factors in achieving higher productivity. Achieving this goal requires reconsidering current production methods that could lead to introduction of new production techniques and more advanced technologies

Study on Resource Configuration on Cloud Manufacturing

The purpose of manufacturing is to realize the requirement of customer. In manufacturing process of cloud system, there exist a lot of resource services which have similar functional characteristics to realize the requirement. It makes the manufacturing process more diverse. To develop the quality and reduce cost, a resource configuration model on cloud-manufacturing platform is put forward in this paper. According to the generalized six-point location principle, a growth design from the requirement of customers to entities with geometric constraints is proposed. By the requirement growing up to product, a configuration process is used to match the entities with the instances which the resources in the database could supply. Different from most existing studies, this paper studies the tolerance design with multiple candidate resource suppliers on cloud manufacturing to make the market play a two-level game considering the benefit of customers and the profit of resources to give an optimal result. A numerical case study is used to illustrate the proposed model and configuration process. The performance and advantage of the proposed method are discussed at the end

An Intelligent Approach to High Quantity Automated Machining

Purpose: To investigate the possibility of application of knowledge-based expert systems to facilitate the task of techno-economical feasibility analysis of utilization of special purpose machines for high quantity production tasks. Also, to study the possibility of assisting special purpose machine designers in applying knowledge-based expert systems in the design task in order to reduce required machine design time, improve machine design efficiency, and eliminate possible human errors. Design/methodology/approach: Development of a knowledge-based expert system has been proposed to help decide where to utilize special purpose machines to accomplish the production task. The knowledge-based expert system consists of a rule-base which contains qualitative human knowledge and expertise in the form of if-then rules; and a database which contains qualitative information of machining operations, and characteristics of standardized special purpose machine components. Findings: A case study has been presented where an analysis has been made on the basis of techno-economical considerations for a typical part with three machining operations to be produced in large quantities. It has been concluded that for the given production task, special purpose machines would result in a significant 59% reduction of costs compared to CNC machines, and 95.5% compared to traditional machines. The proposed methodology also reduces the time and effort needed for decision making on utilization of special purpose machines and determination of machine layout. In addition, it minimizes the level of expertise required to perform these functions and eliminates possible human errors. Research limitations/implications: The current system focuses on drilling and drilling-related operations which cover about 60% of all machining operations. More work is needed to cover other machining operations including milling. Also the KBES developed currently works on a standalone basis. Work is in progress to integrate it with a 3D CAD modelling system. Upon completion the information could be directly extracted from the CAD system, eliminating the need for manual data input by the user. Originality/value: In spite of a large number of publications on machine tool design in the literature, publications on special purpose machines are very limited. The method of techno-economical analysis presented here for utilization of special purpose machines in comparison with other production alternatives is of great value to manufacturing engineers and specialists. Also the methodology presented for machine design and implementation is highly valued by machine tool designers and manufacturers

Developing parametric design fashion products using 3D printing technology

This study created wearable fashion products with parametric design characteristics, using 3D printing technology. The goal of the study was to understand what parametric design features can be simulated with 3D modeling and printing technology, as well as to demonstrate what techniques can be used to produce fashion products using 3D printing technology. This study created two different parametric motifs using an FDM-type 3D printer with TPU and ABS as the printing materials. With those motifs, we produced three garments and two accessories. The limitations found during the process were modeling the exact measurement of the motifs that will merge with the apparel design seamlessly while maintaining the parametric features, as well as attaching the printed motifs to fabric without ruining the integrity of the textile. A significant implication of this study is that it recreates parametric designs on the human body and utilizes 3D printing technology for fashion products. This paper cast a light on a discussion about the technique can be applied on fashion design with full-sized body and encouraged designers to explore further with technological advancements in the future

Design Automation of Steam Attemperator

Projektituotteet sisältävät tyypillisesti paljon asiakaskohtaista räätälöintiä. Siitä johtuen tuotteiden suunnittelu alkaa vasta tilauksen varmistumisen jälkeen. Tämä hidastaa tuotteen tilaus-toimitusprosessin läpimenoaikaa ja lisää projektin epävarmuutta. Nopeuttaakseen projektien valmistumista ja alentaakseen kustannuksia joissain projektituotteita valmistavissa yrityksissä on siirrytty tuotekonfigurointiin. Tuotteen eri variaatiot suunnitellaan etukäteen ja asiakkaan tarpeiden perusteella valitaan tuoteyksilö, joka parhaiten täyttää asiakkaan vaatimukset. Asiakasvaatimusten yhdistämistä tuotteen ominaisuuksiin kutsutaan konfigurointiprosessiksi. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää Metso Power Oy:n höyrynjäähdyttimen tuoterakennetta siten, että höyrynjäähdyttimen tuoteyksilöt voidaan määritellä etukäteen suunniteltuja ratkaisuja hyödyntäen. Kehitetyn tuoterakenteen pohjalta tehtiin suunnitteluautomaatti, joka lähtötietojen perusteella muodostaa tuoteyksilön 3D-mallin sekä työpiirustukset. Työllä tavoiteltiin suunnitteluun kuluvan ajan lyhenemistä ja kustannusten alentumista. Työn alussa perehdyttiin 152:een eri projekteissa tehtyihin höyrynjäähdyttimiin. Läpikäytyjen projektien avulla kartoitettiin, mitä muutoksia eri tuoteyksilöiden välillä oli tarvittu. Muuttujista pyrittiin tunnistamaan toiminnan kannalta oleelliset ja turhat variaatiot. Vakioimalla muuttujia ja rajoittamalla valintoja muuttujien määrä saatiin putoamaan noin 30:stä alle kymmeneen. Työn tuloksena syntyi tuoteperhe, jonka kaikki mahdolliset variaatiot ovat etukäteen suunniteltuja. Höyrynjäähdyttimen detaljisuunnitteluun kuluva aika lyheni noin 150 tunnista 30 tuntiin yhtä projektia kohden

A CASE STUDY INVESTIGATING RULE BASED DESIGN IN AN INDUSTRIAL SETTING

This thesis presents a case study on the implementation of a rule based design (RBD) process for an engineer-to-order (ETO) company. The time taken for programming and challenges associated with this process are documented in order to understand the benefits and limitations of RBD. These times are obtained while developing RBD programs for grid assemblies of bottle packaging machines that are designed and manufactured by Hartness International (HI). In this project, commercially available computer-aided design (CAD) and RBD software are integrated to capture the design and manufacturing knowledge used to automate the grid design process of HI. The stages involved in RBD automation are identified as CAD modeling, knowledge acquisition, capturing parameters, RBD programming, debugging, and testing, and production deployment. The stages and associated times in RBD program development process are recorded for eighteen different grid products. Empirical models are developed to predict development times of RBD program, specifically enabling HI to estimate their return on investment. The models are demonstrated for an additional grid product where the predicted time is compared to actual RBD program time, falling within 20% of each other. This builds confidence in the accuracy of the models. Modeling guidelines for preparing CAD models are also presented to help in RBD program development. An important observation from this case study is that a majority of the time is spent capturing information about product during the knowledge acquisition stage, where the programmer\u27s development of a RBD program is dependent upon the designer\u27s product knowledge. Finally, refining these models to include other factors such as time for building CAD models, programmers experience with the RBD software (learning curve), and finally extending these models to other product domains are identified possible areas of future work

Creative interface for constructing earthbag resouurce objects

Tese de Doutoramento em Arquitetura com a especialização em Design e Computação apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de DoutorAo longo do tempo os arquitetos fizeram uso de métodos gráficos e estudos volumétricos para planejar, projetar e representar os projetos arquitetônicos. Experimentam as possibilidades desde o início do processo criativo até a elaboração do projeto arquitetônico. Atualmente os recursos informáticos permitem estender as capacidades de representação dos projetos para além do universo da mera representação geométrica, associando dados técnicos, quantitativos e descritivos às referidas representações facilitando sua execução e a comunicação das suas complexidades técnicas, onde se destaca o paradigma de representação BIM (building information modelling). O SuperAdobe, também conhecido como “adobe ensacado”, “saco contínuo de terra estabilizada”, “earthbag building”, “Earth-filled bags” ou “domo em adobe”, consiste na técnica construtiva onde as paredes são construídas essencialmente por sacos preenchidos com areia e empilhados, sendo estabilizados com arame farpado entre os sacos. São construções duráveis, fortes, climaticamente eficientes, formalmente flexíveis e são compostas por recursos renováveis e reaproveitáveis favorecendo o desenvolvimento sustentável. Esta investigação responde à questão de como a modelação paramétrica, inserida em ambiente BIM, pode auxiliar na concepção específica de projetos em SuperAdobe. A técnica de construção em SuperAdobe é mais vantajosa do que as demais com terra, pois não é necessário o uso de fôrmas de madeira ou outro material semelhante, é mais resistente às ações sísmicas, exige menos manutenção e tempo de construção, e pode ser autoportante para tipologias de até dois pavimentos. Apesar de a construção em terra ser uma solução reconhecida de baixo impacto ambiental, as ferramentas informáticas existentes ainda são fatores limitantes neste tipo específico de projetos. A tese tem por objetivo, a criação de alternativas informáticas para auxiliar a concepção de projetos em SuperAdobe. Objetivamente na fase de criação de modelos virtuais em 3D com dados técnicos associados. Com relação às metodologias, trata-se de uma pesquisa de cunho experimental dividida em duas fases, modelação paramétrica e estudos em ambiente BIM. Os experimentos foram validados por aplicação de inquéritos (baseado nas dez heurísticas de Nielsen) e simulação em computador respectivamente. A principal contribuição dessa investigação é a introdução da tecnologia de construção com sacos de terra/superAdobe no ambiente BIM. Os resultados mostram que, com o uso destas ferramentas, é possível modelar domos e absides em menos de 5 minutos e depois associá-los a qualquer outra tecnologia construtiva em ambiente BIM com geração automática de dados técnicos.ABSTRACT: Architects have been using graphic methods of representation, together with volumetric studies, for architectural design since the beginning of the creative process. Nowadays the technology available expands the projects’ representation capabilities beyond the geometric representation, presenting associated technical, quantitative, and descriptive data. The building information modelling (BIM) paradigm facilitates building execution and the communication of technical complexities. The SuperAdobe (also known as earthbag, bagged earth, or earth-filled bags) is a construction technique where the walls are made with interspersed layers of bagged inorganic soil and barbed wire. These constructions are durable, strong, energy efficient, capable of producing organic forms, and composed by renewable and reusable materials, supporting sustainable development. The aim of this research is answering the question: How can generative design, together with BIM, help to improve the design of earthbag building projects? Earthbag building techniques are more advantageous than other earth-building techniques because they don’t require formwork, they are more resistant in earthquake-prone zones, they benefit from both lower maintenance and construction time, and they are self-supporting up to double storey typologies. Although earth construction is recognized as a low environmental impact solution, existing software tools continue to be limiting factors in this specific type of project. This thesis aims to present design computational tools that are suitable for earthbag construction technology, with a focus on generating 3D models with associated technical data. The research methodology is an experiment involving two phases: (1) parametric modelling and (2) studies in BIM environment. The validation of this research encompasses surveys (based on the ten heuristics of Nielsen) and a computational simulation. The main contribution of this research is the implementation of earthbag/superAdobe technology in the BIM environment. The proposed tool allows modelling earthbag/superAdobe domes and clusters in less than five minutes, associating the generated model with any other standard constructive technologies and other variations of earthbag/Superadobe shape walls, generating the technical data automatically.N/

DeReFrame: a design-research framework to study game mechanics and game aesthetics in an engineering design process

The main aim of this research is to study gaming techniques and elements that may potentially be beneficial to the future development of CAD systems for engineering design, in particular to maintain cognitive engagement. A design-research framework, called DeReFrame, was employed to construct an experimental game-based CAD framework exploring this. This research is based on reviews from the literature and experimental studies and include quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods measuring engineers’ performance and emotional responses. The thesis presents the construction process of the framework (DeReframe) to study a set of game mechanics and game aesthetics in an engineering design process and compare this with the traditional CAD. The framework was used to design and implement a game-based CAD system, called ICAD which was embedded with the following game mechanics of Directional Goals, Progression, Performance-Feedback and Rewards-Achievement. The DeReFrame and ICAD evolved through the experimental studies. In each case, selected game mechanics were at the core of each interaction and iteration which gave rise to feelings of progress, competence and mastery. The final results from the DeReFrame framework and ICAD indicated that gamified approaches should be included in engineering design with CAD: in particular the game mechanics of performance feedback and rewards-achievements influence engineers’ behaviour by supporting them within the problem-solving process creating an engaging-challenging interaction. In conclusion, this research has shown that a framework, that includes both engineering requirements and gamified aspects into consideration, cam serve as a basis for implementing game-based CAD to facilitate performance by providing engaging experiences for engineers