A concurrent engineering approach to the development of a scroll compressor

The scroll type of compressor is becoming popular and widely used in refrig eration and air conditioners. But it is time consuming to design and manufa cture the compressor since its components are of complex shape and of high precision requirements. This paper presents a concurrent engineering approa ch to computer-aided design and manufacturing of the compressor. The author s use C++ programming and Pro/ENGINEER as engineering tools to implement th e proposed approach and associated design development. A visualised solid m odel of the compressor was developed. The solid model designed was enhanced by use of an optimisation system. Finite element analysis and an expert sy stem were used to study the model, which is useful for improving the qualit y of manufacturing and assembly accuracy at the later stages. Manufacturabi lity, process planning and NC tool path code generation are included in the approach. Concurrent engineering concepts were used throughout the design and manufacturing processes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.