An Integrated Approach to Product and Process Design in Metal Forging
Fidan, I., Esche, S. K., Chassapis, C. & Manoochehri, S.
Proceedings of the 5th Annual Concurrent Engineering and Integrated Product Design Conference CEIPD'98, East Hanover, New Jersey, USA, September 24, 1998, pp. 28-41.
Abstract
At the Design and Manufacturing Institute (DMI) at Stevens Institute of Technology, an Automated Concurrent Engineering Software System (ACES) for composite part design and manufacturing has been developed. This system integrates knowledge about all aspects of product design and manufacturing and provides powerful reasoning and decision-making for reducing the time between product conception and final production. The capability of the ACES approach to shorten product development cycles, eliminate design flaws, improve product quality and reliability, and reduce costs has been demonstrated in the context of composite part design. Currently, an ACES module for metal forging is under development. In this presentation, the general design approach and the system architecture of the metal forging module are discussed. This module is based on features that associate product function and process knowledge with the part geometry. It guides the user through all phases of the design process including part design, material selection, process and tooling design, press selection, cost estimation, and analytical prototyping.