Process alternative generation from product geometric design data

A fundamental element in operating a competitive manufacturing system is th e ability to control material, cost, and other production resources require d to transform the raw material to a finished product. To successfully cont rol cost, it is essential that a reliable assessment of the tasks required to manufacture the product be made. This involves identifying the operation s and the machine tools required. In this research, a method of decomposing polyhedral components to generate all possible ways to process the part is presented. The technique takes as input the geometric design data of the p roduct, analyzes and interprets the design to identify the volume of materi al to be machined out from the raw material block to obtain the finished pr oduct. The volume of material to be removed are characterized to generate v arious approach directions from which the material can be machined out. The alternate tool approach directions are used to construct an AND/OR graph t hat captures the process alternatives. Using this graphical representation, a model is proposed for selecting the best process plan based on some user defined criterion. The developed procedure can be integrated into a CAD/CA M system to provide the required linkage between design and manufacturing a nd thus, automate a critical link in manufacturing.