Introduction to Computer Aided Process Planning

Hierarchical Control Structure

There are multiple levels of automation and control in the computer-integrated manufacturing environment. The Productivity Pyramid was conceived as a way to show the hierarchical control structure:

The control structure was first introduced by CAM-I (ComputerAided ManufacturingInternational), a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Texas.

Manufacturing Environment
Role of the master machinist in small batch manufacturing Manufacturing is more complex Job shop: group machines which perform same operation together Routing of parts through the various departments Process plan defines the route Reduction in the necessary skill of operator can be achieved by using a detailed process plan

Formal Definition
Process planning can be defined as an act of preparing processing documentation for the manufacturing of a piece, part or an assembly depending on the production environment can be
Rough Detailed

When process planning is done using a computer : Computer Aided Process Planning

Step-by-step operations in a sample part

 Manufacturing a part to meet design specs.

Selection of initial block Sequence of operations Selection of machine, process
Surface finish Quality Tolerance Hardness Life Cost

A Rough Process Plan

A Detailed Process Plan

Components of Process Planning

Selection of machining operations Sequencing of machining operations Selection of cutting tools Determining the setup requirements Calculation of cutting parameters Tool path planning and generation of NC/CNC programs Design of Jigs/Fixtures

Process Planning in different environments

In tool-room type manufacturing
make part as per drawing is sufficient

In metal-forming type operations

The process planning requirements are embedded directly into the die. Process planning is fairly trivial

Job-shop type manufacturing requires most detailed process planning

Design of tools, jigs, fixtures and manufacturing sequence are dictated directly by the process plan.

Requirements for process planner

Must be able to analyze and understand part requirements Have extensive knowledge of machine tools, cutting tools and their capabilities Understand the interactions between the part, manufacturing, quality and cost

Traditional process planning

Experienced based and performed manually Variability in planners judgment and experience can lead to differences in the of what constitutes best quality Problem facing modern industry is the current lack of skilled labor force to produce machined parts as was done in the past Hence Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Computer Aided Process Planning

Advantages of CAPP
Reduces the demand on the skilled planner Reduces the process planning time Reduces both process planning and manufacturing cost Creates consistent plans It produces accurate plans It increases productivity

Approaches to CAPP
Variant Generative Automatic

Variant Approach

Variant Process Planning

based on the valid conjecture that similar parts will have similar process plans Preparatory stage GT-based part coding
Families of similar parts are created Family matrix

A process plan is to manufacture the entire family is created

Variant Process Planning

Production Stage Incoming part is coded Part family is identified Process plan is edited to account for the different needs of the part Salient points of variant process planning Easy to build, learn and use Experienced process planners are still required to edit the process plan Cannot be used in an entirely automated manufacturing system without additional process planning

Variant Process Planning

Generative Process Planning

a system which automatically synthesizes a process plan for a new component Requires Part description
Part to be produced must be clearly and precisely defined in a computer compatible format (OPITZ,AUTAP)

Manufacturing databases
Logic of manufacturing must be identified and captured The captured logic must be incorporated in a unified manufacturing database

Generative Process Planning

Decision making logic and algorithms
Decision trees Expert Systems: AI based approaches

Automatic Process Planning

generate a complete process plan directly from a CAD drawing Requires: Automated CAD interface
Take a general CAD model ( 3D for unambiguous data) and develop an interface to develop a manufacturing interface for this model : Feature Recognition of CAD Design the parts with available manufacturing features : Feature based CAD Dual: useful features of both approaches

Intelligent (computer based) process planner

Some process planning approaches

References
Systems Approach To Computer Integrated Design and Manufacturing Author: Nanua Singh Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Expert Process Planning For Manufacturing Author: Tien-chien Chang Publisher: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company

Illustration

Illustration (Contd)
The part model is converted into a STEP file using the native translator.
ISO-10303-21; HEADER; DATA; #1=DIRECTION('',(0.E0,0.E0,1.E0)); #2=VECTOR('',#1,6.E1); #3=CARTESIAN_POINT('',(0.E0,0.E0,-6.E1)); #4=LINE('',#3,#2); --------------------------------------------#262=DIRECTION('',(0.E0,1.E0,0.E0)); #263=DIRECTION('',(1.E0,0.E0,0.E0)); #264=AXIS2_PLACEMENT_3D('',#261,#262,#263); #265=PLANE('',#264); #267=ORIENTED_EDGE('',*,*,#266,.T.); #274=EDGE_LOOP('',(#267,#269,#271,#273)); #275=FACE_OUTER_BOUND('',#274,.F.); #276=ADVANCED_FACE('',(#275),#265,.F.); ---------------------------------------------------#168=CIRCLE('',#167,1.E1); #266=EDGE_CURVE('',#199,#200,#4,.T.); ----------------------------------------------------#573=ADVANCED_BREP_SHAPE_REPRESENTATION('',(#564),#572); ENDSEC; END-ISO-10303-21;

Illustration (Contd..)
Example part showing the edges and their corresponding numbers

Illustration (Contd..)
Example Part showing the faces and its surface normal

Illustration (Contd..)
Determining the attributes of the faces
The left bottom vertices of the faces are always used as a starting point for clockwise loops. The type and orientations of each face using the B rep database is modified accordingly. Geometric attributes of faces on the object and relational topology, which is basically concerned with the adjacency relationships between faces, are then determined. Face attributes Type of Edge Attributes

Convex
Concave Non-adjacent

1
-1 2

Illustration (Contd..)

1 2 3 4 5

Deriving the relationship matrix

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

0
1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2

1
0 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2

1
1 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1

2
2 1 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 -1

2
1 1 1 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2

2
2 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 2

2
2 2 2 2 1 0 -1 2 -1 -1 2 2

2
2 2 2 2 1 -1 0 -1 2 -1 2 2

2
2 2 2 2 1 2 -1 0 -1 -1 2 2

2
2 2 2 2 1 -1 2 -1 0 -1 2 2

2
2 2 2 2 2 -1 -1 -1 -1 0 2 2

1
1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 0 1

2
2 1 -1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 0

2
2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 -1

2
2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2

2
2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2

1
2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2

14
15 16 17

2
2 2 1

2
2 2 2

1
1 1 1

2
2 2 2

2
2 2 2

1
1 2 2

2
2 2 2

2
2 2 2

2
2 2 2

2
2 2 2

2
2 2 2

1
1 1 1

-1
2 2 2

0
2 2 2

2
0 -1 1

2
-1 0 1

2
1 1 0

Illustration (Contd..)
Evaluating Root and Boundary faces
If a negative entry (-1) in an off diagonal cell ( i, j ) is found, the faces Fi and Fj are defined as the root faces of the current feature. Any column for the face having an off-diagonal negative (-1) entry in the ith row is also flagged as root faces. Any column for the faces having a positive (1) entry in the ith row of root faces forms the boundary faces

Illustration (Contd..)
For the example part, the root and boundary faces for the through step feature is as shown in figure.

Illustration (Contd..)
Identification is done by matching them with entries in the previously described feature database, by using the coding scheme The lengths of feature codes are variable. The code length is 3(n+1) where n is the number of root faces. The code digits are grouped in 3x3.
1st Digit (1st Group) denotes genus(G) of the open object formed by the root faces. It is calculated using the Eulers Formula. 2nd Digit denotes number of boundary faces, and 3rd Digit (1st Group) denotes total number of convex adjacencies.

Illustration (Contd..)
No 1 2 3 Type Code

Through slot Through step Rect. Pocket

0 4 0 0 4 0 0 1 0

0 2 2 0 1 3 0 3 1

0 0 0

1 3 1 3 3 1

0 1 3 0 3 1

0 3 0

Results
Feature ID : Feature type : Volume type : End type : Maximum Depth : Bottom Profile Centroid : Shape : Length : Width : Top profile Centroid : Shape : Length : Width : 1 Slot Depression type Through type 60 mm X [60], Y[45], Z[60] Rectangle 20 mm 10 mm X[60], Y[45], Z[0] Rectangle 20 mm 10 mm

Results (Contd..)
Feature ID : Feature type : Type of Slot : Volume type : End type : Maximum Depth : Bottom Profile Centroid : Shape : Length : Width : Top profile Centroid : Shape : Length : Width : 2 Slot Corner Depression type Through type 60 mm X [175], Y[45], Z[0] Rectangle 50 mm 10 mm X[175],Y[45], Z[60] Rectangle 50 mm 10 mm

Results (Contd..)
Feature ID : Feature type : Volume type : End type : Maximum Depth : Bottom Profile centroid: Shape : Length : Width : Top profile centroid : Shape : Length : Width : 3 Pocket Depression type Blind 50 mm X [110], Y[45], Z[30] Rectangle 40 mm 20 mm X[110],Y[45], Z[30] Rectangle 40 mm 20 mm

Results (Contd..)
Feature ID Feature type Axis Axis position Hole Diameter Hole Depth : : : : : : 4 Simple hole X [0], Y[0], Z[-1] X [100],Y[20], Z[30] 20 mm 50 mm