This award will support Professor Winston Knight of the University of Rhode Island in collaboration with Professor P. Bariani of the University of Padua, Italy. The objective of this joint research is the development of knowledge based procedures for computer-aided cold forging process design and estimating. Process planning and estimating for the manufacture of engineering products are activities that rely heavily on the skilled interpretation of experienced personnel for the effective development of work plans and estimates. Computer based procedures for process planning have attempted to incorporate the manufacturing knowledge of experienced planners in a readily usable form through a variety of approaches. However, most attention in the development of computer-aided process planning (CAPP) systems has been devoted to machinery processes and relatively little on the important area of process planning for forming operations. This research is concerned with basic investigations into the development of integrated systems for computer-aided estimating, and process design for multi-stage cold forging processes. The implementation of the overall system will require the establishment of a knowledge base, the development of the interpretation logic for sequence design and cost estimation, and the integration into the system. The problem is an important one for manufacturing operations and the approach is sound. The group at the University of Rhode Island will focus on the manufacturing knowledge representation and cost analysis procedures, while the group at Padua will be concerned with the interpretation logic, tool design, and sequence evaluation procedures.
