A system for generating process and material selection advice during embodiment design of mechanical components

This paper describes a systematic approach to material and process selection during the embodiment design of mechanical components and a system for generating process and material selection advice. Quite often during the embodiment design stage, design requirements are not precisely defined. Therefore, the system described in this paper accounts for imprecision in design requirements during generation and evaluation of alternative process sequences and material options. To reduce the computational effort, the system uses a depth-first branch-and-bound search algorithm. This aids in exploring promising process sequences and material options that can be used to meet the given set of design requirements. Various process sequences and material options are evaluated using a commercial cost estimation tool.