A knowledge-based design advisory system for collaborative design for micromanufacturing

The manufacture of microproducts differs from that of conventional products in many ways, not only in the sizes, but also in issues concerning the effects of material properties, tools, and manufacturing equipment. There was a need for a new design methodology and associated design tools to aid designers in assessing the design of their microproducts by considering new micromanufacturing capabilities and constraints. A knowledge-based design advisory system (DAS) was, therefore, developed in MASMICRO in which the knowledge-based system with dedicated assessment modules and knowledge representatives based on the ontology was created to implement the distributed design and manufacturing assessment for micromanufacturing. The modules address the assessment on geometrical features relating to manufacturability, manufacturing processes, selection of materials, tools, and machines, as well as manufacturing cost. The Microsoft C# programming language, ASP.NET web technology, Prolog, and Microsoft Access database were used to develop the DAS. The test on the DAS prototype system was found to provide an increase of design efficiency due to more efficient use of design and manufacturing knowledge and afforded a web-based collaborative design environment

A knowledge-based parametric design system for drawing dies

[[abstract]]The design of drawing dies is a very complex and knowledge-intensive process. This paper describes a knowledge-based parametric design system for drawing dies which requires only a minimum set of parameters to be set before it is able to complete the design of the main components of a die, such as upper dies, lower dies, and blank holders. This minimum set of parameters includes blank sizes, die faces, punch open lines, drawing strokes, and press data. This design system implemented on top of the Pro/E CAD software consists of a drawing die knowledge base, a subcomponent inferencer, a dimension calculator, a subcomponent generator, a system coordinator, and a user interface. We use the design of drawing dies for inner wheel house as a concrete example to show that our system can greatly improve the design quality while reducing the development time and cost

Computer-aided structural design of drawing dies for stamping processes based on functional features

[[abstract]]This paper describes a structural design system for 3D drawing dies based on functional features using a minimum set of initial information. In addition, it is also applicable to assign the functional features flexibly before accomplishing the design of a solid model for the main parts of a drawing die, such as upper die, lower die, and blank holder. The initial information includes blank sizes, work strokes, die faces, punch open lines, and press data. The proposed system integrated the design knowledge of drawing die into functions of 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software to automate design and to shorten design time. This design system is constructed on a PC and integrated with a Pro/ENGINEER CAD system including feature selector, shape calculator, model generator, design coordinator, and user interface. The proposed system is demonstrated using the example of designing a drawing die for the roof panel of a vehicle within 1 h. The results reveal that it can dramatically improve the design quality and can save both time and costs with excellent design quality