AN EXPERT-SYSTEM SHELL FOR THE SELECTION OF METAL-CUTTING PARAMETERS

In the increasingly complex domain of Flexible Manufacturing Systems ( FMS) as well as of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) the need fo r a Decision Support System (DSS) for the selection of process paramet ers becomes crucial. It is observed that in complex systems the effici ency of an integration between artificial intelligence and advanced op timization techniques in a decision support system will be greater tha n that in a simple system. The present paper reviews some problems in parameter selection and introduces a knowledge-based interactive appro ach for fuzzy optimization at the process-planning stage in metal cutt ing. The paper considers a general structure for building up an infere nce and control engine for the decision-support expert system as well as an algorithm for finding a compromise solution for the metal-cuttin g parameter-selection problem presented as a possibilistic multiobject ive programming solution.