PLEASE NOTE: Concepts are now being developed to extend this research into the business domain. Please see the key words at the end of this document to find suitable linkages.
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K.Sahu and I.R.Grosse
(Journal of Engineering with Computers,
Springer-Verlag London, 10: pp. 245-257, 1994)
ABSTRACT: To help foster concurrency in engineering design, methodologies are needed to support the interpretation and abstraction of numerical simulation results for design modification purposes. A methodology is presented for the integration of continuum-based numerical simulations into a computational system for concurrent design of mechanical components. The methodology is based in the conversion of low-level numerical data into high level symbolic representations called form templates. The form templates function as rudimentary features, which carry meaningful qualitative descriptions abstracted from either manufacturing and/or functional numerical simulations. The rudimentary features are further refined by superimposing predefined form features in the solid modeler during the design modification process. Examples are presented to demonstrate the methodology.
Cites A METHODOLOGY FOR TRANSFORMING NUMERICAL FINITE ELEMENT RESULTS TO SUPPORT PROGRESSIVE DESIGN MODIFICATION
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I.R.Grosse and K.Sahu
(Advances in Feature Based Manufacturing, (J.J.Shah, M.Mantyla and D.S.Nau, Editors), Elsevier Science B.V., Chapter 13, pp:289-313. 1994)
ABSTRACT: Many of today's "Design for X" methodologies rely heavily on compiled heuristics or symbolic knowledge to guide the iterative design process. It is argued that the solution of real world design problems requires design methodologies, which draw on all possible sources of design knowledge, whether it be low-level numerical data obtained from finite element simulation or high-level human-based cognition. We present in this paper a design methodology and computational environment which is based on three sources of design knowledge: 1) compiled heuristics or symbolic knowledge 2) functional and manufacturing process simulations and 3) the cognitive capabilities of the designer through a user interface. The methodology is tested in the domain of the preliminary design of injection-molded load-carrying three-dimensional components based on functional and manufacturing specifications. Several test case design problems are treated. Based on a hybrid evaluation technique for qualitative rating of preliminary designs, results indicate that the proposed methodology is a viable one and may offer an attractive alternative to other approaches based on more narrow sources of design knowledge.
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K.Sahu and I.R.Grosse
(Proceedings of the 1991 ASME International Computers in Engineering Conference, Santa Clara, CA, August 18-22, vol. 1, pp. 18-22)
ABSTRACT: In this paper we discuss a hybrid computations design tool, called
CSN-Designer (Cognitive Symbolic Numeric), which is currently under development at the University of Massachusetts. The objectives of the system are two fold: to foster concurrency in the early stages of design, and to facilitate and automate as much as possible the design of mechanical components. To meet these goals, the system integrates human cognition, symbolic computation, and numerical simulations within a single computational environment. All three of these knowledge sources are exploited in pursuit of the design objective. The computational system is currently being tested in the domain of preliminary design of 3-D load-carrying injection molded parts. Several design examples in this domain are presented in this paper.
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K.Sahu and I.R.Grosse
(Proceedings, 17th NSF Design and Manufacturing Systems Grantees Conference, Austin, Texas,
Jan 9-11, 1991)
ABSTRACT: In this report we discuss a computational methodology for automating, in part, the configuration or preliminary design process of structural components. The design by manufacturability algorithm, previously applied to the domain of 2-D load-carrying plastic products (Grosse and Sahu, 1989), has been extended to the domain of 3-D load-carrying plastic components (Grosse and Sahu, 1990). The salient features of this model are : 1) iterative 2) hybrid (heuristic and numerical) 3) manufacturing process driven and 4) feature-based. The methodology is based on the hypothesis that deep manufacturing process knowledge, extracted from numerical simulations of the manufacturing process, can be utilized to not only constrain but to also guide the preliminary design process. The preliminary design algorithm in this integrated computational environment exploits heuristic rules, numerical analysis results, and the human designer. Examples are presented illustrating this manufacturability design approach applied to 3-D structural shape synthesis design domain.
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I.R.Grosse and K. Sahu
(Proceedings of the 1990 ASME International Computers in Engineering Conference, Boston, MA, August 1990, vol. 1, pp. 25-32.)
ABSTRACT: In this paper we present an approach for automating, in part, the configuration or preliminary design process of structural components. The design by manufacturability algorithm, previously applied to the domain of 2-D load-carrying plastic products (Grosse and Sahu, 1989), has been extended to the domain of 3-D load-carrying plastic products. The design by manufacturability algorithm is an iterative, manufacturing process driven design. To do so, a feature-based approach was adopted in which a 3-D plastic product is considered to be composed of various thin-shelled section features. Heuristic rules are used to construct a 3-D thin shell "design blank" based on functional specifications. The design by manufacturability algorithm is then applied to the 3-D thin shell design blank to iteratively modify the design, thereby creating new designs. A relative evaluation strategy is used to evaluate the merits of various designs generated. Examples are presented illustrating this manufacturability design approach applied to the 3-D structural shape synthesis design domain
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I.R.Grosse and K. Sahu
(Preprints of NSF Engineering Design Research Conference, U. of Massachusettes, Amherst, June 11-14, 1989.)
ABSTRACT: A unique configuration design methodology is introduced in this paper based on a design-by-manufacturability approach. The terminology design-by-manufacturability, as opposed to design-for-manufacturability, is used to emphasize that the configuration design process is dictated primarily by fundamental manufacturing knowledge. This design-by--manufacturability methodology has been realized as a computer-aided design tool for the configuration design of constant-thickness load-carrying plastic components. The CAD tool exploits physical principles relating to the manufacturing process of injection-molded parts to obtain potential candidate designs for optimization. The system is demonstrated on a simple design problem. Design configurations generated by the design-by-manufacturability approach are evaluated and compared to design configurations generated by considering only functional objectives. The relative merits and the domain limitations of this new approach are discussed. Results indicate that in certain manufacturing and design domains, this design-by-manufacturability approach appears promising and has the potential to be completely automated.
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(In preparation)
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a unique design-by-manufacturability technique for computer-aided generation of preliminary design configurations (or topologies) for individual mechanical components. Design-by-manufacturability, unlike design-for-manufacturability, is primarily governed by the deep physical knowledge of the manufacturing process and is employed for the preliminary optimization of initial configurations. The methodology is based on the hypothesis that deep manufacturing process, can be utilized not only extracted from numerical simulations of the manufacturing process knowledge, extracted from numerical simulations of the manufacturing process, can be utilized not only to constrain but also to guide the preliminary design process. Design-for-manufacurability rules can however be employed during the design modification task which makes extensive use of features within a feature-based modeler. The integrated computational environment, called
CSN-Designer, which implements this preliminary design approach exploits cognitive, symbolic and numerical capabilities for making knowledge-based design modifications. Examples are presented illustrating this manufacturability design approach applied to the 3-D structural shape synthesis of injection molded parts.
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(In preparation)
ABSTRACT: A hybrid evaluation technique is presented in this paper for qualitative evaluation of preliminary designs based on a combination of symbolic and numerical design performance parameters. The method is applied to evaluate preliminary designs of injection molded parts generated by a computational system, called
CSN-Designer, from functional specifications using heuristic rules and numerical simulations of the design's injection moldfilling process. The reliance of the design tool on the analysis module provides information at different levels of abstraction. It is therefore necessary to convert and combine the numerical analysis information with other symbolic information in a qualitative manner to obtain the overall merit of the designs. The overall rating is a function of both the symbolic rating (from configuration evaluation) and the numerical rating (from parametric evaluation). Several examples are presented which demonstrate how numerical results can be converted into a qualitative assessment of the design and then combined with other qualitative performance assessments to obtain an overall qualitative rating of the preliminary design.
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Journal of Research in Engineering Design
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Conceptual Design, Product Development, Concurrent Engineering, Quality Function Deployment, Design for Manufacturability, CAD/CAM, CIM.
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