QUANTITATIVE MEASURES OF MANUFACTURABILITY FOR ROTATIONAL PARTS

This paper addresses the issue of manufacturability measurement for de sign improvements. With the increasing applications of computer aided engineering, the design engineer must expand the view of design to inc lude ease of manufacturing. Quantitative indicators of manufacturabili ty are the most efficient way of providing manufacturing feedback to t he designer. Quantitative measures can be used to indicate redesign ta rgets and rank parts based on ease of manufacturing. A methodology for developing such indicators (manufacturability indices) is presented h ere, with rotational parts being used as an example. The paper shows h ow CAD and machining parameters can be utilized to obtain a part's man ufacturing requirements. These requirements are then combined into ind ices, the use of which is illustrated with examples.