Integration of tool selection with design - Part 1. Feature creation and selection of operations and tools

Tool selection is one of the most significant process considerations when d eciding how a machined product will be manufactured. The tool selection act ivity is rooted in feature geometry but it also has a direct impact on mach inability and machine tool performance. Consequently, the integration of to ol selection with design is a key step towards the goal of a seamless integ ration between computer-aided design and computer-aided process planning. T his integration requires that design be carried out using features. A featu re based design environment was created with associated validation methods for updating and managing feature dimensions, type descriptions and dealing with feature interactions. The next stage of automated tool selection invo lves converting the information associated with each feature into machining operation requirements, which in turn is used to query a database to extra ct all tools that may be used to complete a given operation. In this paper, which is the first of two parts, the feature creation and validation metho ds are presented together with the methodologies for operation and tool sel ection. In Part 2, a method for the estimation of machining times is presen ted together with results from testing the methods using real components. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.