Joel Johansson

How to Build Flexible Design Automation Systems for Manufacturability Analysis of the Draw Bending of Aluminum Profiles

Manufacturingcompanies continually need to develop and produce products faster, cheaper,and of better quality to meet requirements from customers andinvestors. One key factor in meeting these requi ...

Manufacturability Analysis Using Integrated KBE, CAD and FEM

Finite element analyses (FEA) are often used to test product properties virtually. The process of setting up FEA is many times manual and not strictly formalized; the assumptions made in those calculations highly depend on the analysts’ former experiences and gut feeling. Sometimes there exist parametric FEA-models, but they are hard to interpret for others than the developers. These parametric FEA-models are also highly inflexible. It is beneficial to formalize and automate the process of developing such calculations in order to automate the product development process for mature and variant-rich products where predictions and validations using FEA are demanded in the whole or parts of the design space. Making the automated FEA-models more flexible and more transparent makes them live longer and be more available for engineers that are not FEA-specialists. The FEA-specialists will have more time to solve general problems rather than focusing on instances of the product. In this paper, a proposal is made on how to integrate Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE), CAD and FEM to make the automation of FEA flexible, transparent, and easy to use. The method proposed includes the usage of an inference engine that handles knowledge objects that connect to auxiliary software applications. In the paper, an implementation example is presented where toolsets for the rotary draw bending of aluminium tubing are analyzed for manufacturability.

A flexible design automation system for toolsets for the rotary draw bending of aluminium tubes

For parts suppliers in the manufacturing industry, the process of preliminary production preparation and the subsequent calculation of offers are critical business activities. A vital part of production preparation is the design of fixtures and tooling necessary for many processes of metal forming. In order for a company to give quick responses to customer enquiries or changes in prior specifications, it would be highly beneficial with a degree of automation in this design process. This implies the development of a computer based system able to capture existing design procedures and associated knowledge for the classes of tooling required for the forming process. In this work, an implementation for the rotary draw bending of aluminum tubing has been done to exemplify how to develop an automated design system. The system is based on heuristic knowledge developed over many years of practical experience, knowledge analytically derived from fundamental theory found in scientific literature, and rules based on empirical data from trial manufacturing. The system applies knowledge to a given specification that a skilled engineer otherwise would do manually. The system output can be used to evaluate whether a tube is producible. The main idea behind the system is to use knowledge objects containing information on inputs, outputs, constraints and what software are used to implement the knowledge pieces. This approach makes the system highly flexible and allows for multiple types of knowledge that might overlap. When an offering calculation is wanted, the system is set to run applicable knowledge objects for presented input data. Other objects are run when an accurate calculation for detailing is wanted for a more detailed set of input data. The system is built on readily available commercial software packages connected with a simple Visual Basic .Net program. When building a system of this kind, it is essential that the knowledge documentation and structure be such that the functions of the system can be easily understood by the users of the system and by future developers. Aspects of user friendliness, transparency and scalability are addressed in the summary of this paper.

A Feature and Script Based Integration of CAD and FEA to Support Design of Variant Rich Products

The focus of the research presented in this article has been an integration of a CAD-system and a FEA pre-processor to automatically develop a complete FEA-models in order to make simulation based design possible. The article presents a prototype system that was developed to automate the simulation of the behavior of ski-racks mounted on cars during collision. This type of simulations requires mesh models containing structured mesh, an issue solved in the presented system and that is presented in the article. It is also shown how to make it possible to introduce contacts, loads, constraints, and other FEM-properties based on CAD-geometry.

A methodology for microstructure-based structural optimization of cast and injection moulded parts using knowledge-based design automation

A new methodology for geometry optimization with consideration of heterogeneous material behaviour is presented.Mechanical behaviour is based on local microstructure formation predicted by simulations and microstructure models.Design automation and a multi-objective optimization algorithm is used for controlling the knowledge-based implementation.The approach is implemented for cast materials and injection moulded glass-fibre reinforced polymeric materials. The local material behaviour of cast metal and injection moulded parts is highly related to the geometrical design of the part as well as to a large number of process parameters. In order to use structural optimization methods to find the geometry that gives the best possible performance, both the geometry and the effect of the production process on the local material behaviour thus has to be considered.In this work, a multidisciplinary methodology to consider local microstructure-based material behaviour in optimizations of the design of engineering structures is presented. By adopting a knowledge-based industrial product realisation perspective combined with a previously presented simulation strategy for microstructure-based material behaviour in Finite Element Analyses (FEA), the methodology integrates Computer Aided Design (CAD), casting and injection moulding simulations, FEA, design automation and a multi-objective optimization scheme into a novel structural optimization method for cast metal and injection moulded polymeric parts. The different concepts and modules in the methodology are described, their implementation into a prototype software is outlined, and the application and relevance of the methodology is discussed.

Managing Fluctuating Requirements by Platforms Defined in the Interface Between Technology and Product Development

Product platforms play an important role for the efficient customisation and variant forming of products in many companies. In this paper four different companies ranging from OEM to B2B suppliers ...

A case study on implementing design automation: Identified issues and solution for documentation

Computer supported engineering design systems are used as support for designers by automating some tasks/activities of design process. From industrial aspect, implementation of a developed prototyp ...

Knowledge Object - a Concept for Task Modelling Supporting Design Automation

The ability to design and manufacture highly customer adapted products brings a competitive edge to manufacturing companies acting on a business-to-business market as suppliers to OEMs. A vital mea ...

The design platform – a coherent platform description of heterogeneous design assets for suppliers of highly customised systems

ABSTRACT Companies developing highly customised products are continuously faced with fluctuating requirements during the early and late stages of the product development (PD) process. This differs from companies that develop end-consumer products, which uses fixed specifications and where product platforms have been a successful enabler for efficient customisation. However, in the past, product platforms have not been able to fully support companies working in an engineer-to-order business environment. This article outlines the results from a three-year collaborative research project between academics within the area of engineering design and practitioners from the engineer-to-order industry. The research introduces a design platform (DP) that aims to support the development of customised products when traditional platform concepts do not suffice. The platform approach provides a coherent environment for heterogeneous design assets to be used in PD by supporting both the design activity and the finished solutions. The needs and abilities regarding such a platform were investigated through a series of interviews and workshops at four companies. Then, the DP was modelled and support tools were developed. Finally, company representatives evaluated the complete DP and its applications, reporting promising results.

Howtomation© Suite: A Novel Tool for Flexible Design Automation

This paper shows how to achieve flexibility in design automat systems through the introduction of knowledge objects and through the adoption of an oriented view of the product structure. To demonstrate the ideas a novel tool called Howtomation© Suite (for automated know-how) is presented. The new tool handles the addressed issues and has been successfully implemented at one company. That successful implementation is described at end of the paper.