posted on 2011-01-18, 09:23authored byRoberto S.U. Rosso Jr
Manufacturing integration has been sought out for a number of years. Standardised
information sharing has been an issue to guarantee computational systems interoperability
across the product life cycle, but particularly in the manufacturing phase. The International
Standard that supports product information namely ISO 10303 has supported computer
aided systems in the product information exchange and sharing. However, standards for
manufacturing information have been a problem waiting for solutions. In recent years
product and manufacturing models have been used to support computational systems.
However, the lack of an International Standard to represent the manufacturing information
was an obstacle to have interoperable systems in the so-called CAx process chain.
This thesis reports research on information support for computer aided process planning
and manufacture with the basis on the new NC standards that support information
exchange between CAD and CNC. A novel brand of product and manufacturing model has
been explored to represent information necessary to support the process planning activity
that uses new parts of ISO 10303 standard and the evolving ISO 14649 standard. The work
also focuses on the understanding and development of the aforementioned standards with
the aim to support and to integrate computer aided design, process planning and
manufacture. The structure of the manufacturing model is based on three classes namely
workingstation capability, process capability and resources capability. These provide the
necessary infrastructure for interoperable computational systems that support the CAx
process chain.
The models have been tested through a case study using a proposed computational
prototype entitled the STEP-TM CAPP system. This prototype shows this research
approach provides significant potential for the future interoperable process planning of
parts for the next generation of CAPP/CAM systems to make effective use of the future
IS014649 intelligent CNC controllers.
History
School
Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering