Evaluating the manufacturability of machined parts and their setup plans

Design-for-manufacturability is an approach that requires product designers to consider the manufacturing issues of a product concurrently with the ge ometrical and design aspects. This paper presents a manufacturability evalu ation methodology that incorporates design, machining and work-holding issu es. The evaluation is carried out in two parts. The first part is related t o the machinability of the features of the part, whereas the second part is concerned about the fixturability of the part with regards to its planar f aces. The methodology uses the fuzzy sets theory and the analytical hierarc hy process method to evaluate the accessibility, orientation, dimensional t olerances, and surface finish specifications of a part. The former is used to model the various ill-defined boundaries of the criteria, while the latt er allows for differences in opinions from designers/machinists to be incor porated into the evaluation process. The quantitative machinability and fix turability indices found can be used to evaluate designs and generate redes ign suggestions. A setup plans evaluation module has been developed to dete rmine the merit indices of setup plans for machining a part using these mac hinability and fixturability indices.