Process planning and process design to identify stable process areas is nowadays characterized by time-consuming correction loops, where the number of iterations and the effort involved are mostly from the experience and knowledge of process designer. This requires on the one hand additional planning steps as deriving process parameters and secondly an evaluation of the achieved product quality. By using the macro simulation model introduced in this paper, the computational complexity to obtain significant process knowledge is decreased and thus made accessible more easily. Detailed tool-workpiece engagement is calculated through the presented model, which co-relates to mechanical and thermal stresses on the tool. Based on the calculations the process can be designed by reducing the tool load in the course of the process. This way, the tool life of the used milling cutters can be significantly increased resulting in an increase of process robustness and efficiency, thereby reducing used resources.

Over the last years the aerospace industry demands for increasingly complex process chains, as worn, high-value parts have to be repaired and resources have to be used more efficiently. To cope with this growing complexity, tool support ist required for different reasons. The process chains have to be layed out, the knowledge of the processes has to be captured and should be easily available. Furthermore, process chains evolve over time and it should be possible to use the research results to optimize in-use process chains. In this paper it is shown how the function block approach can be extended by "Generic Process Blocks for Manufacturing" (GPBM) in order to meet these requirements for offline adaptive process chains. For this, GPBM introduces a new placeholder function block which supports the reuse and exchange of already modeled process chains. In addition, a case study discusses how this approach can help to transfer a process chain originally designed for tip repair of a single gas-turbine airfoil to a blade integrated disk (BLISK) and how the corresponding process chain knowledge can be stored in a common place.

The machining of safety-critical components, e.g. turbine disks and blades, is expected to meet highest demands regarding functionality and quality. At the same time, a fast and affordable process design for the production is a major driver for the economic development of these components. Effective increase in productivity requires in addition to the development of machining technologies, new approaches in process design and planning. The integration of simulation into computer aided design of multi-axis processes provides a great potential for further optimisation of the processes. By using the macro simulation model introduced in this paper, the computational complexity to gain relevant process information is reduced and hence made accessible more easily. Through the presented macro simulation, detailed tool-workpiece engagement is calculated which co-relates to mechanical and thermal stresses on the tool. Based on the calculations the process can be designed by reducing the tool load in the course of the process. This way, the tool life of the used milling cutters can be significantly increased resulting in an increase of process robustness and efficiency, thereby reducing used resources.

Kurzfassung Viele Fertigungsaufgaben erfordern einen langwierigen Einfahrbetrieb, um einen robusten und möglichst effizienten Prozess zu erreichen. Dies führt wegen der Belegung der Anlage und des Verschnitts von Rohteilen oft zu hohen Kosten, wobei das Potenzial von Fertigungsanlage und -prozess meist nicht vollständig erschlossen wird. Mithilfe vielfältiger Planungs- und Simulationssysteme existieren heute bereits mächtige Werkzeuge zur Unterstützung von Optimierungsvorhaben, die spezifische Bereiche detailgetreu abbilden. Jedoch führt erst die Kopplung dieser Einzellösungen zu einer umfassenden Beurteilungsgrundlage, bei der auch Wechselwirkungen Berücksichtigung finden. In einem Forschungsprojekt des von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) geförderten Exzellenzclusters „Integrative Produktionstechnik für Hochlohnländer“ wird an der RWTH Aachen deshalb ein Systemverbund aufgebaut, der am Beispiel zerspanender Werkzeugmaschinen eine durchgängige Simulation von der CAM-Ebene bis hinunter zur makro- und mikroskopischen Betrachtung des Zerspanprozesses ermöglicht. Das daraus resultierende Engineering-Werkzeug soll den Anwender bei der Optimierung von Bearbeitungsprozessen unter Einbezug von Bahnplanung, Maschinensteuerung, Maschine und Prozess (Werkstück/Werkzeug) unterstützen und somit zu einer höheren Wirtschaftlichkeit, gerade auch in den frühen Phasen eines Produktionsbeginns, beitragen.