A flexible approach for design rule formalization and evaluation

Abstract

Currently the design of mechanical parts requires multiple iterations to reach a manufacturable part. This leads to high rework costs and long lead times, as manual checking of design rules is time consuming and error prone. By formalizing manufacturing knowledge, the design rules and the process window boundary become more clear and actionable for both designers and manufacturers. This paper proposes a design rule formalism that simplifies the formalization process by means of decomposing rules in expressions of surface properties and bounds. Textual design rule expressions are converted in Abstract Syntax Trees. Such a representation describes the computation steps for a design rule evaluation. We propose an efficient method for automatic manufacturability assessment of CAD models. We argue that a discretization is needed for analysis of relevant surface properties. The results are validated on an injection moulding case, whith illustration of the added value of the approach.