CAD/CAM Integration

Linking Design and Manufacturing!

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

CAD/CAM INTEGRATION
CAD : Computer Aided Design : Used for creating solid
models of the components to be designed. (Output
is a DESIGN.)

CAM: M stands for Manufacturing. Manufacturing

includes every step that is involved in creating the
designed component, converting it from raw
material into final form. (Output is a manufactured
product.)

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

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 Types of Manufacturing
Processes
There are two types of manufacturing
processes:
–Continuous
(e.g. oil refining, continuous cast rolling)
–Discrete part
(e.g. drilling, milling)

We will only be dealing with discrete part

manufacturing.
MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Discrete Part Manufacturing

Process
Main phases of discrete part manufacturing:

Process Planning is the interface between

the design process and manufacturing
process.
Figure from: K. Lee, “Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE Systems,” Addison-Wesley, 1999
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 Process Planning
Input: Final Design
Output: Process Plan

A process plan lists a sequence of manufacturing

and assembly operations that will be used to
produce the part or assembly. For each operation,
it describes details such as which material will be
used, which machine will be used, which settings,
etc.

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Process Planning
Steps:
1. Select raw materials
2. Identify volumes of material to be removed
3. Identify the set of machining processes from
the available standard machining processes
that can remove the required volumes.
4. Generate most effective/efficient sequence
of machining operations

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 Example of a Process Plan
The part being manufactured:

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Figure from: K. Lee, “Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE Systems,” Addison-Wesley, 1999

Example of a Process Plan

The process plan:

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Figure from: K. Lee, “Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE Systems,” Addison-Wesley, 1999

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 Process Planning Automation
There are three approaches to computer-
aided process planning (CAPP):

• Manual Approach
Not Computer-Aided.
• Variant Approach
Computers store/match existing process plans.
• Generative Approach
Computers generate a process plan from scratch.

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Manual Approach
The process plan is developed by a skilled planner
who is familiar with the company’s manufacturing
capabilities.

The steps involved are:

1. Study the overall shape of the part.
2. Determine what stock material to use.
3. Identify datum surfaces for setups
4. Identify part features.

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 Manual Approach
Typical machining
features:

Figure from: K. Lee, “Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE Systems,” Addison-Wesley, 1999

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Manual Approach
Typical machining
sub-features:

Figure from: K. Lee, “Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE Systems,” Addison-Wesley, 1999

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 Manual Approach
Steps, cont’d:

5. Group features into setups.

6. Sequence the operations in the setup
7. Select tools for each operation
8. Determine fixtures for each setup
9. Final Check
10. Elaborate Plan (e.g. feeds and speeds)
11. Prepare process plan document.
MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Variant Approach
In the variant approach, parts that have similar
features are grouped into families. There is a
“standard” plan for each family.
A process plan is found by:
1. Identify important features of part.
2. Identify which family a part belongs to.
3. Retrieve the “standard” plan.
4. Edit the “standard” plan if required.

Note: If the part does not belong to an existing family, a

new “standard” plan needs to be developed.
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 Variant Approach
• It is an advanced manual approach to process planning.

• Planner’s workbook is stored in the computer file.

• Variant Approach requires a database of standard

processing plans for each family of parts.

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Variant Approach

• “Group Technology” (GT) simplifies the problem of

finding out which family a part belongs to. In GT a code
is assigned to a part based on which features it contains.
This code is compared to the codes for each family.

• GT is a process of grouping parts sharing similar generic

properties under single family.

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 Variant Approach
There are three types of GT coding systems:
1. Monocode (hierarchical)
Meaning of each digit depends on the value of
previous digits.
2. Polycode
Meaning of each digit is independent of other
digits.
3. Hybrid
Combination of Monocode and Polycode.
MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Example of
Monocode GT code.

The part:

Figure from: K. Lee, “Principles of

CAD/CAM/CAE Systems,” Addison-Wesley,
1999
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Example of Monocode GT code.

The
coding
scheme:

Table from: K. Lee,

“Principles of
CAD/CAM/CAE
Systems,” Addison-
Wesley, 1999
MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Example of Monocode GT code.

Table from: K. Lee,

“Principles of
CAD/CAM/CAE
Systems,” Addison-
Wesley, 1999

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Example of Monocode GT code.

Part GT code is 3321:

3 – Rotational workpiece
3 – D = 75 mm, L/D = 50/75 = 0.67
2 – Holes not in axis
1 – Plain steel

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Generative Approach
The Generative Approach requires the
computer to perform these steps:
1. Enter design specification:
- input/recognize stock material
- recognize machining features
2. Generate process plan
– determine optimal setups
– determine optimal sequence of operations
– determine optimal fixture types and
locations
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 Generative Approach
The Generative Approach is not widely used
because:
- required information (such as tolerances) are not
usually available in the CAD model
- a lot of knowledge must be added to the system
to make it capable of handling all the different
types of parts that occur.
- evaluating all the combinations of possibilities is
computationally intense.

MEEM4403 Computer-Aided Design Methods

Studying for Final Exam

• Textbook questions:
– Ch. 10: 1, 7, 8, 9

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