Expert System for Deep Drawing Process Planning : DOX

초록

Deep drawing process is a kind of sheet metal forming that makes a flat blank into a cup-shaped product without a joint. The process planning for deep drawing is a very sophisticated task and needs a lot of empirical and theoretical knowledge. This paper describes the development of a knowledge-based CAPP (Computer Aided Process Planning) system, DOX (Deep drawing Operation eXpert). DOX covers a process planning for axisymmetric stepped-cup. The input to the system is geometry and material information of the product. The geometry information can be input automatically from CAD system or entered manually by the user. Employing this data the system extracts necessary shape elements useful for figuring geometry during process planning. We decomposed the deep drawing process into some sub-processes depending on their purposes and employed both CBR (Case-Based Reasoning) and RBR (Rule-Based Reasoning) considering the characteristics of each sub-process. By the reasoning strategies mentioned above, DOX generates section profiles at each stage and outputs the process-layout automatically on AutoCAD. The system is now installed in industry and significant time saving is expected.