1、An automated design system for progressive dieS.Kumara,R.SinghbaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,S.V.National Institute of Technology,Surat,IndiabDepartment of Mechanical Engineering,D.C.R.University of Science and Technology,Murthal,Haryana,Indiaa r t i c l ei n f oKeywords:Progressive dieKnowl
2、edge-base systemProduction rulesAutoCADa b s t r a c tThis paper describes an automated design system developed for design of progressive die.The proposedsystem is organized in 27 knowledge-base modules.The production rule based knowledge-base system(KBS)approach is utilized for constructing the sys
3、tem modules.Modules are user interactive anddesigned to be loaded into the prompt area of AutoCAD.The system is capable of automating all majoractivities of design of progressive die such as checking the design features of sheet metal parts,designof strip-layout,selection of progressive die componen
4、ts,modeling of die components and die assembly,and selection of materials for progressive die components.The system is implemented on a PC havingAutoCAD software and therefore its low cost of implementation makes it affordable by small and mediumsize enterprises.?2010 Elsevier Ltd.All rights reserve
5、d.1.IntroductionA progressive die is used worldwide for mass production ofsheet metal parts.Design of progressive die is a complex andhighly specialized procedure and typically progressive die designtakes 20%of the lead time from the concept design to the finalstamping manufacture.The diverse nature
6、 of products producedby progressive die demands a high level of knowledge on the partof the die designer that can only be achieved through years of prac-tical experience.Checking the design features of sheet metal parts,design of strip-layout,selection of die components,selection ofmaterials for die
7、 components;and modeling of die componentsand die assembly are major activities for designing a progressivedie.The traditional methods of carrying out these tasks requireexpertise and are largely manual and therefore tedious,time con-suming and error-prone.The quality of die design depends to alarge
8、 extent on the designers skill,experience and knowledge.Anumber of researchers have tried to develop computer aided sys-tems for progressive die.For example,Murikama and Shirai(1989)developed a CAD/CAM system which is capable of generat-ing assembly and dimensioned part drawings as the final outputb
9、ut the strip and die layouts have to be done manually by the de-signer.Researchers at National University of Singapore and Insti-tute of High Performance Computing,Singapore also reported tohave developed an integrated modelling and process planningsystem(2002)for planning bending operations of prog
10、ressive dies.Sima,Lee,and Jang(2004)carried out the study on the develop-ment of center carrier type progressive die for U-bending part pro-cess.Ghatrehnaby and Arezoo(2009)reported to develop anautomated nesting and piloting system for progressive dies.Someresearchers reported to have developed int
11、elligent CAD systems forprogressive die.For example,Duffy and Sun(1991)developed aknowledge-based system for the design of progressive stampingdies using a feature-based approach.Lee,Lim,and Nee(1993)developed IKOOPP,an intelligent knowledge-based process plan-ning system for the manufacture of prog
12、ressive die plates.Cheok,Foong,and Nee(1996)reported to have developed an intelligentplanning aid for progressive die design using PC developmenttools.Ismail,Chen,and Hon(1996)have also worked on expertsystems for progressive piercing and blanking die design.Zheng,Wang,and Li(2007)have developed int
13、elligent CAPP system forautomobile panels.Commercially available CAD/CAM systems are providing a greatdeal of assistance in drafting and analysis in die design process,buthuman expertise is still needed to arrive at the final design.Also,the high cost associated with setting up such systems is quite
14、 oftenbeyond the reach of small-scale sheet metal industries.Someresearchers have used AI techniques to conserve experiencedbased knowledge of die design experts.But the use of these sys-tems is very limited.They can either handle only blanking andpiercing operations or parts with relatively simple
15、geometry.Itappears that the development in progressive die automation havenot kept pace with advancement in AI technology.Thus,there is astern need to develop an automated design system for progressivedies having low cost of implementation using both CAD and AIapproach collectively,which can be easi
16、ly affordable by smalland medium scale sheet metal industries.This paper describes anautomated design system for accomplishing the tedious and time0957-4174/$-see front matter?2010 Elsevier Ltd.All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2010.09.121Corresponding author.Mob.:+91 9824590088.E-mail address:skbudhwarmed.svnit.ac.in(S.Kumar).Expert Systems with Applications 38(2011)44824489Contents lists available at ScienceDirectExpert Systems with Applicationsjournal homepage: design task of progressive
