An integrated manufacturing system needs automated conversion of design information into its manufacturing counterpart. This is partly dealt with in the present study for extracting the manufacturing information for computer-aided process planning systems, including the identification of tool approach direction, attributing the dimensional and geometric tolerances to the machining features, and identification of the reference faces. In spite of extensive study conducted on computer-aided process planning systems, further investigation is still needed to develop automation in attributing tolerances to machining features and identifying the reference faces. The authors have proposed new methods to implement these tasks. A detailed case study has been used to illustrate the application of the developed algorithms.
One of the main objectives of computer-aided process planning is to determine the optimum machining sequences and setups. Among the different methods to implement this task, it can be named the constrained optimization algorithms. The immediate drawback of these algorithms is usually a large space needed to be searched for the solution. This can easily hinder the convergence of the solution and increase the possibility of getting trapped in the local minima. A novel approach has been developed in this work with the objective of reducing the search space. It is based on consolidating the decisive factors influencing the consecutive features. This helps prevent creation of sequences which need the change of setup, machine tool, and cutting tool. The proposed method has been applied to three different optimization methods, including genetic, particle swarm, and simulated annealing algorithms. It is shown that these algorithms with reduced search spaces outperform those reported in the literature, with respect to the convergence rate. The best results are found in the genetic algorithm from the viewpoint of the obtained solution and the convergence rate. The worst results belong to the particle swarm algorithm in connection with the strategy of generating new solutions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.