Paolo Cicconi

Modular Product Configuration: an Automatic Tool for Eliciting Design Knowledge from Parametric CAD Models

The offer of tailored products is a key factor to satisfy specific customer needs in the current competitive market. Modular products can easily support customization in a short time. Design process, in this case, can be regarded as a configuration task where solution is achieved through the combination of modules in overall product architecture. In this scenario efficient configuration design tools are evermore important. Although many tools have been already proposed in literature, they need further investigation to be applicable in real industrial practice, because of the high efforts required to implement system and the lack of flexibility in products updating. This work describes an approach to overcome drawbacks and to introduce a product independent configuration system which can be useful in designing recurrent product modules. To manage configuration from the designer perspective, the approach is based on Configurable Virtual Prototypes (CVP). In particular, the definition of geometrical models is analyzed providing a tool for eliciting and reusing knowledge introduced by parametric template CAD models. Semantic rules are used to recognize parts parameterization and assembly mating constraints. The approach is exemplified through a case study.Copyright

How to Support Mechanical Product Cost Estimation in the Embodiment Design Phase

An efficient mechanical product design process implies the evaluation of many alternatives in a short time and rapid product changes on the basis of emerging needs. Product cost is one of the main factors in order to choose the most promising solution. Hence its accurate estimation in the design phases is fundamental. The main problem is the vast amount of knowledge that has to be managed in order to make robust evaluations. Features based 3D CAD models implicitly contain part of needed information. But such information has to be elaborated by adopting suitable rules based on manufacturing knowledge. In this context, the paper presents an approach and the related knowledge-based system able to automatically make reliable cost estimation starting from the 3D CAD model. The approach is based on the manufacturing knowledge formalization, on the geometrical and non-geometrical feature automatic recognition and, finally, on the mapping between manufacturing operations and modeling features. In order to validate the system performance case studies are reported.

Virtual Prototyping Approach to Evaluate the Thermal Management of Li-Ion Batteries

Nowadays, electric vehicles fill a relevant car market share. The Li-Ion batteries currently represent the best solution in term of environmental impact and performance. Thermal management for Li-Ion batteries is a very interesting topic, since high temperatures accelerate degradation rate of a cell and compromise its safety level. The battery thermal modeling can be quite challenging. The proposed approach describes a methodology to simulate different thermal management algorithms in order to obtain an uniform temperature distribution in a Li-Ion battery pack. A test case has been developed where the application of an thermal algorithm has been analyzed through CFD simulations.

Life cycle cost from consumer side: A comparison between traditional and ecological vehicles

The present work investigates the economic feasibility of ecological vehicles. The comparison has been developed between traditional vehicles, gasoline and diesel fueled, and green vehicles powered by electric, hybrid or natural gas motors. Nowadays, the vehicle life cycle cost is an important decision criterion used by consumer to buy a car, due to fuel price increasing. Life cycle cost includes purchase cost, operation cost, but also social cost lead to environmental impact regarding production, use and end-of-life phases. The proposed research focuses life cycle cost from consumer side in order to evaluate the economic feasibility, using ecological solutions for transportation in EU. Different use scenarios are proposed, considering different vehicle sizes and mileages, without considering taxes and any governance incentives.

Tool for Life Cycle Costing of Electric Motors during the Early Design Phases

In order to obtain even more competitive and efficient electric motors, it is necessary to take into, during the account design phase, not only the electromagnetic performances, but also the environmental impact and Life Cycle Cost (LCC). The paper presents a methodology and a software tool for the evaluation of the LCC of electric motors (particular attention is reserved to the manufacturing and use costs), yet during the early design phases. The integration of the proposed tool in a larger platform, to consider also the environmental impacts and motor performances, is also presented. The cost estimation tool has been tested for small sized asynchronous single-phase electric motors for household appliances.

A Modular Optimization Method Based on a Multi-DOE Approach Proposed for a Centrifugal Impeller

Nowadays, design processes need of agile and flexible tools and methods to meet market needs and Ecodesign directive in the industry of household appliances. Virtual prototyping techniques are widespread in design processes and practices, in order to reduce the project development lead-time and the cost related to any real physical prototyping.The aim of this paper is the study of a generic modular approach to support the optimization process of simple mechanical parts, using virtual prototyping tools and a multi-DOE solving analysis based on virtual experiments. The target is to increase flexibility in design phases. The research context regards the optimization of a blower for cooker hood applications, in order to improve the fluid dynamic efficacy indicator in accordance with EU Ecodesign directive regarding ventilation fans. The increasing of fluid dynamic efficiency is a way to reduce electrical energy consumption during blower operation.Particularly, this paper focuses on the design optimization of an impeller for kitchen hood. The research-work takes into account the optimization of the blade profile. Inlet and outlet fluid-blade angles have been analyzed and discussed. The methodology proposes the study of a set of geometrical parameters through an analysis based on DOE scheduling with virtual experiments. The proposed test case provides a study of two different fan wheel models for the same hood application. Three geometrical parameters have been considered. The DOE objective function fits the maximization of the fluid dynamic efficiency indicator, in order to reduce energy consumptions. A multi-DOE approach has been used to evaluate the best configuration set. Several CFD simulations have been conducted and the resultant impeller configuration has been also validated through physical tests.Copyright

Knowledge Based Plants Layout Configuration and Piping Routing

The design of industrial plants requires managing many geometrical and non geometrical data to reach a satisfactory solution in terms of costs, performance and quality. An approach is presented to support designers in the elicitation and formalization phase of the required knowledge. Then an integral prototypal software application accomplishes layout configuration tasks through a customized graphic wizard. A routing algorithm is presented to automate calculation and modelling of piping and electrical cables respecting design constraints. Cogeneration plant powered by micro gas-turbines has been chosen as test case to evaluate the proposed design method and tool.

A design methodology to predict the product energy efficiency through a configuration tool

During recent years the European Ecodesign Directive has introduced big changes in the design methodology of several energy-using products including consumer goods such as ovens, washing machines and kitchen hoods. Additionally, the introduction of the Energy Labelling Directive pushes manufacturers to implement new energy-saving features in many energy-related products sold in Europe. As a consequence, several companies have been encouraging the improvement of their energy using products paying attention to the related selling cost. Eco-driven products require eco-design tools to support the eco-innovation and the related sustainability improvement. The main scope of the proposed research is the reduction of the time-to-market for the energy-using products such as kitchen hoods. In this context, the paper aims to provide an approach to support a pre-evaluation of the energy labeling related to kitchen hoods. A prototypical software tool has been developed in order to simulate the energy performance of new kitchen hood configurations in term of energy efficiency. The approach also considers the introduction of virtual experiments in order to calculate the performance of virtual modules. This tool makes the product-engineer more aware in the decision-making about the energy-saving. As a test case, different product configurations have been compared analyzing the energy labelling and the overall energy performance.

An approach to support model based definition by PMI annotations

ABSTRACTPMI annotations are widely used to support the Model Based Design within modern companies. In particular, the introduction of digital annotations marks the transition from the 2D drawings to the 3D representation in many manufacturing and design companies. However, today the implementation of the PMI technology presents some limits, such as the lack of functions to generate structure templates to be applied to similar CAD models. The proposed approach aims to overcome the limits of traditional tools which are not able to add a PMI annotation’s structure from one model to another one. The paper describes a method to reuse digital PMI annotations in a new model during the design phase, where the annotations are inherited from similar CAD documents. The proposed approach is based on two levels of geometric analysis: the searching of similar template models from an XML database, and the identification of the related geometric entities, which are used as associated objects for the definition of 3D anno...

Cyber-physical system integration for industry 4.0: Modelling and simulation of an induction heating process for aluminium-steel molds in footwear soles manufacturing

In recent years, the Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs), have become a new trend to increase and to enrich the interactions between physical and virtual systems with the goal to create a truly connected world in which smart objects interact and exchange data with each other. The CPS is the core of the new industrial revolution called “Industry 4.0”, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing to make decentralized decisions. Within the modular structured smart factories, Cyber-Physical Systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world, simulate parts of process and implement sophisticated control policies in order to take optimized decisions. This research proposes the modelling and simulation of an induction heating process for aluminium-steel mold, which is used in the production of footwear soles. The modelling supports the simulation of a CPS model related to the use of a multi-use LGV (Laser Guided Vehicle) which transports aluminum-steel molds from a mechanized warehouse to the final rotary production line, used for the soles foaming. In detail, a thermal model and an induction heating electronic circuit model have been studied to describe the whole mold heating system and they have been simulated using Simulink/MATLAB. In addition, two types of controllers, an induction preheating control technique based on a Model Predictive Controller (MPC), and another one based on PID, have been developed in order to analyse the different behaviour of the system.