STEP-based product modeling for concurrent stamped part and die development

Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) is an international standard designed to provide a complete, unambiguous, computer-readable def inition of the physical and functional characteristics of a product through out its lifecycle. In this paper, a STEP-based product modeling system for concurrent stamped part and die development is presented. First, an archite cture of this system is established using a three-layer architecture (appli cation, logical and physical layers) recommended by STEP, and a new concept - Die & Product Integrated Information Model (DPIIM) is proposed to fully support the complete product data representation in concurrent stamped part and die design process. Then, six EXPRESS-defined schemas are constructed to represent DPIIM using the Integrated Resources of STEP, which can suppor t the concurrent stamped part and die development with a complete product i nformation representation and a standard data format. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.