1,721,045 research outputs found
Manufacturing cost estimation during early phases of machine design
No full textMachine design process requires the effective and rapid assessment of different design solutions. Beyond functions and technical performance other parameters as safety, manufacturability, assemblability etc. have to be taken into account. Manufacturing cost is one of the main factors in order to choose the most suitable solution, so accurate estimation in the early design phases is fundamental. Design to cost implies to manage a vast amount of manufacturing knowledge that has to be linked to the design parameters. Feature based 3D CAD models contain data useful for cost estimation but, despite the numerous researches on features recognition and extraction, no cost estimation software system yet assures reliable results. In such context, this paper presents an approach for rapid manufacturing cost estimation where design features are automatically linked to manufacturing operations. The approach has been implemented into a knowledge-based system and tested on practical case studies in order to validate the performance. Copyright © 2002-2012 The Design Society. All rights reserved
Designing die inserts by additive approach: A test case
Full text linkThe die manufacturing industry is widely based on the use of conventional machining tools. However, several studies have proposed Additive Manufacturing (AM) for molds and die inserts in the last ten years. The AM flexibility allows designing and manufacturing complex surfaces. This flexibility can be used to optimize the cooling channels of die inserts (conformal cooling). The research aims to evaluate whether Design for Additive Manufacturing commercial tools can be employed in redesigning die inserts. Besides, the paper describes a method to redesign a die insert for High-Pressure Die Casting using Selective Laser Melting. A test case is proposed to analyze an AM die insert's redesign process for improving the thermal exchange and the material distribution. The simulation of the AM process supports the drafting conclusions from the results
A should costing approach for manufacturing companies
No full textOne of the most important drivers for developing competitive products is cost. However, scientific and industrial communities are missing an effective cost management framework (including a solid method and a reliable tool) for supporting the product development process, from the initial design phases to procurement. For this reason, the paper presents a holistic ‘should costing’ methodology able to foster collaboration on cost-oriented solutions among company’s departments. The ‘should costing’ methodology and the related tool enable a systematic review of cost evolution, focusing on the opportunities to reduce costs, from the conceptual design stage through the overall production stages. In addition, the paper presents requirements for efficient implementation of a should-cost tool considering enterprise software solutions already available in manufacturing companies. A couple of companies (product manufacturers) adopted the recommended ‘should costing’ framework and quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the deployment process are presented as results. The benefits related with the adoption of the proposed should costing approach in relation with the traditional product development process is presented as well
Supporting virtual teamwork in Collaborative Product Development
No full textThe increasing product complexity and the continuous need of improving product quality and services force companies to join into distributed and extended networks. Collaborative product development triggers research toward the development of new methods and tools to manage virtual teamwork to reduce time to market. In this context, the paper proposes a novel approach and a supporting co-design platform to manage interrelations across organisations. Experimentations into four product design chains show improvements in communication, information sharing, knowledge distribution, time saving and easiness of team management. They demonstrate that collaborative product development can be usefully enhanced only if tools and procedures are designed for the specific needs of the virtual network
Design Optimization: Tools and Methods for ETO Products
No full textThe design of Engineer-To-Order products needs tools and methods for reducing time and cost during the phase of the quotation preparation. Modularization is one of the more applied design methods for ETO systems; however, it is necessary to integrate traditional tools with practices of design optimization to improve the development of a proposal. Even if commercial design tools for modeling specific types of engineering systems are available, the application of design optimization is still based on the use of tools not integrated with each level of the design phases. Moreover, these tools often require software customization. The integration of geometrical modeling, simulations, analysis, and optimization concerns the interaction between different tools. This paper describes an approach to support the Multi-Object Optimization related to the design of complex ETO systems with a focus on the oil & gas context. In this context, Genetic Algorithms and Constraint Satisfaction Problems are introduced as tools to support the design optimization of steel structures. The approach includes the employment of different and integrated tools throughout the design phases. This paper also shows a collection of tools to support the different levels for the design of different ETO products during the preparation of an offer related to proposal submission
DESIGN FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: A FRAMEWORK TO COLLECT AND REUSE ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS A CAD-BASED TOOL
No full textWithin the context of modern industries, additive manufacturing (AM) plays a critical role. Design for AM (DfAM) requires defining design actions related to the product's geometry under development. DfAM affects design choices such as the type of process, the material, the geometry, and the model's features. Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is promising for integrating DfAM principles in the early phases of product development. Still, few limitations are noticed, such as the real interoperability between DfAM and 3D CAD systems, leading to the application of proper DfAM rules downstream of the 3D modeling. This paper aims to describe a method to formalize AM engineering knowledge used as a repository to develop a CAD-integrated decision support tool by acknowledging the current gap. The method uses, as input, geometrical data retrieved by the feature analysis of the 3D CAD model (feature recognition approach) and manufacturing information related to AM processes. The method will allow closing the gap between the design and production departments by creating a knowledge-based system. The outcome of this system does not concern the possibility of predicting the AM process parameters. The system will support engineers in delivering product designs compliant with AM processes. Based on this system, a CAD-integrated DfAM tool can be developed in the future
A multi-objective and multi-level design optimization method for oil & gas ducts
No full textThe paper proposes a methodological approach to support the multi-objective (i.e. cost and structural performance) optimization of complex systems, typical of the oil & gas sector. The complexity is managed through a double-level of optimization. The first one, based on simplified product models (1-D and 0-D), considers an analytical approach for the structural behavior and a parametric one for the cost estimation. The second level considers the use of a 3-D FEM solver for structural simulations, and an analytical tool for the cost estimation. As case study, the paper proposes the design optimization of an oil & gas chimney for gas turbines. The workflow analyzed during the case study describes the use of a multi-objective and multilevel approach to optimize cost, weigh, and structural behavior of oil & gas ducts
AN ANALYTICAL COST MODEL for INVESTMENT CASTING
No full textAnalytical cost estimation of investment casted products during design phase is a complex task since the quantity of parameters to be evaluated. So far, there is a short literature on such cost estimation models. This paper attempts to improve the cost model presented by Boothroyd and Dewhurst. Improvements (mainly focused on cluster assembly and investment, sintering and melting phases) were defined and verified in cooperation with two foundries. Tested on eight components, deviation between estimated and actual costs is around 14% for manual production lines and 6% for automatic ones
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