A contribution to technological data estimation for concurrent engineering using geometrical control of net shape forming parts

Abstract

Within the framework of integrated design and manufacturing in mechanical engineering, which is now a well-known field, the design of the parts, the choice of process parameters and even the design of the production system must be carried out at the same time. However, in order to achieve full knowledge integration taking into account the actors' knowledge (the intervening people in the process of design and manufacture of a product are named ‘actors’) and their various points of view, it is necessary to formalize and structure this knowledge together with the technical and economical constraints (manufacturing, quality, logistics, cost, etc.). This means that the models and data must be homogeneous, coherent and not user adapted until their actual time of use. In order to give an illustration of this wide-ranging problem a case of application will be presented in the field of the forming process based on two industrial applications that have been carried out. A contribution is proposed for an approach that makes it possible to gather the technological data and information necessary for integrated design and manufacturing in order to obtain net shape forming of workpieces for the automotive industry. Two approaches are presented, on the basis of dimensional control of the workpiece: the first deals with the description of the forming process, and the second covers the definition of product functionality.