A knowledge-based design critique system for manufacture and assembly of rotational machined parts in concurrent engineering

Concurrent design involves the consideration and integration of various design activities throughout the product life cycle. The importance of concurrent design is first emphasized and a review of various approaches to product life cycle design is then presented. In order to provide a general guideline to concurrent design, a framework of concurrent engineering for DFA and DFM is proposed. One of the functions in the framework, a knowledge-based design critique system for manufacture and assembly of rotational machined parts at the early design stage is developed. Feature-based design is used to provide a means of representing rotational parts with machining features and relationships between them. Taxonomies of features and relationships are developed for representing rotational machined parts. By incorporating design guidelines into the design critique system, we provide an early critique to rotational part design and reduce the problems and adjustments that may occur in the manufacturing and assembly processes of a product life cycle. A forward-chaining knowledge-based language is used to implement the rule-based system. Two examples are given to demonstrate the functioning and applicability of this framework in concurrent engineering.