A Surface Area Calculation and CAPP System for Non-Axisymmetric Deep Drawing Products

Abstract

In this paper a surface area calculation for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products of elliptical shape was constructed for the design of blank shapes of deep drawing products by using an AutoLISP function in AutoCAD software. A computer-aided process planning (CAPP) system for rotationally symmetric deep drawing products has been developed. In this study, a CAPP system for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products of elliptical shape was constructed using process sequence design. The system developed consists of four modules. The first is the recognition of shape module for recognising non-axisymmetric products. The second is a 3D modelling module for calculating the surface area for non-axisymmetric products. The third is a blank design module for creating an oval-shaped blank with an identical surface area. The fourth is a process planning module based on production rules that play the most important role in an expert system for manufacturing. The production rules are generated and upgraded by interviewing field engineers. The drawing coefficient, the punch and die radii for elliptical shape products are considered as the main design parameters. The suitability of this system was verified by applying it to a real deep drawing product. This surface area calculation and CAPP system should be very useful for reducing the lead-time for manufacturing and for improving the accuracy of products.