A knowledge representation for unit manufacturing processes

Abstract

A unit manufacturing process is a fundamental operation unit in the manufacturing process of a mechanical product. It requires extensive knowledge of various processes to select a suitable unit process in process planning and manufacturing services. In the face of a large number of unit processes, it is very necessary to research and develop the knowledge representation and information processing approach for unit processes. In this paper, the basic unit manufacturing process concepts and relationships between them are analyzed in detail. The semantic Web technology is introduced into the knowledge modeling for unit processes, and a new ontology-based knowledge representation model is presented. A formalization for taxonomic semantics and descriptions of manufacturing capability knowledge is presented. A rule base that consists of a set of rules using Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) is built, which is used to enable reasoning on taxonomic semantics and manufacturing knowledge of unit processes. A knowledge retrieval approach that integrates Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontologies and SWRL rules is proposed. Some knowledge retrieval examples employing Semantic Query-enhanced Web Rule Language (SQWRL) are given. A knowledge prototype system for unit processes is developed. This research is a new attempt to construct an open, scalable, and shared manufacturing process knowledge system.