The application of a knowledge-based system to design for manufacture

Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems have been widely used to aid the design and manufacturing process. The use of CAD/CAM systems shortens the design cycle and improves productivity. In most CAD/CAM systems, the CAD activities, primarily used by design engineers, and the CAM activities, primarily used by manufacturing engineers, currently use the same data base. This paper illustrates how we can develop a knowledge based system by including some manufacturing methodology to further assist the designer. By using the knowledge-based system, a designer may consider both the functional requirements of the product along with the manufacturing methodologies of the product in the early design stage. This knowledge-based system includes some generic manufacturing practices that reduce the manufacturing cost of the product. Typical manufacturing practices that are addressed by this methodology include drilling of holes and machining of corners. The knowledge-based system is shown to confirm standard design practices such as: 1. The exclusion of non standard size holes in the design - it costs more to manufacture non standard holes. 2. The exclusion of sharp corners in the design - sharp corners (small radii) require excessive machining times.