A STEP Based Integrated System for Assembly Planning and Design

An integrated system for assembly planning and design (INSAPS) is presented in which product data can be exchanged between assembly planning and assembly design on the basis of standard for exchange of product data model (STEP). The system consists of CAD system, product modeling system, assembly planning system. The product model is organized according to the STEP, uses mostly the entities of IR (integrated resources) and partly self defined entities which is necessary for assembly planning. A simple method of assembly sequence generation is presented which is suitable for complex assembly planning. The generated assembly sequences are evaluated considering the optimization of total assembly time. The results of assembly planning are feedback to the stage of assembly design to improve design.

Integrated Virtual Assembly Process Planning System

Assembly process planning（APP） for complicated products is a time-consuming and difficult work with conventional method. Virtual assembly process planning（VAPP） provides engineers a new and efficiency way. Previous studies in VAPP are almost isolated and dispersive, and have not established a whole understanding and discussed key realization techniques of VAPP from a systemic and integrated view. The integrated virtual assembly process planning（IVAPP） system is a new virtual reality based engineering application, which offers engineers an efficient, intuitive, immersive and integrated method for assembly process planning in a virtual environment. Based on analysis the information integration requirement of VAPP, the architecture of IVAPP is proposed. Through the integrated structure, IVAPP system can realize information integration and workflow controlling. In order to mode/the assembly process in IVAPP, a hierarchical assembly task list（HATL） is presented, in which different assembly tasks for assembling different components are organized into a hierarchical list. A process-oriented automatic geometrical constraint recognition algorithm（AGCR） is proposed, so that geometrical constraints between components can be automatically recognized during the process of interactive assembling. At the same time, a progressive hierarchical reasoning（PHR） model is discussed. AGCR and PHR will greatly reduce the interactive workload. A discrete control node model（DCNM） for cable harness assembly planning in IVAPP is detailed. DCNM converts a cable harness into continuous flexed line segments connected by a series of section center points, and designs can realize cable harness planning through controlling those control nodes. Mechanical assemblies （such as transmission case and engine of automobile） are used to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method and algorithms. The application of IVAPP system reveals advantages over the traditional assembly process planning method in shortening the time-consumed in assembly planning and in minimizing the handling difficulty, excessive reorientation and dissimilarity of assembly operations.

A Novel Attribute-Based Encryption Approach with Integrity Verification for CAD Assembly Models

Cloud manufacturing is one of the three key technologies that enable intelligent manufacturing.This paper presents a novel attribute-based encryption(ABE)approach for computer-aided design(CAD)assembly models to effectively support hierarchical access control,integrity verification,and deformation protection for co-design scenarios in cloud manufacturing.An assembly hierarchy access tree(AHAT)is designed as the hierarchical access structure.Attribute-related ciphertext elements,which are contained in an assembly ciphertext(ACT)file,are adapted for content keys decryption instead of CAD component files.We modify the original Merkle tree(MT)and reconstruct an assembly MT.The proposed ABE framework has the ability to combine the deformation protection method with a content privacy of CAD models.The proposed encryption scheme is demonstrated to be secure under the standard assumption.Experimental simulation on typical CAD assembly models demonstrates that the proposed approach is feasible in applications.

RESEARCH OF MOVEMENT NAVIGATION BASED ON ASSEMBLY CONSTRAINT RECOGNITION

The requirements and features of virtual assembly movement navigator areanalyzed to help operators flexibly manipulate virtual objects, precisely locate or assemble virtualparts in virtual environment. With the degree-of-freedom analysis, the assembly constrainthierarchical model is constructed and the system's constraints are built dynamically. Thus, allobjects in virtual environment can be located reasonally by the navigator. Moreover, the assemblyconstraint recognition in the process of assembly and movement correction is also discussed.

Realization Techniques of Virtual Assembly Process Planning System

The key realization techniques of virtual assembly process planning （VAPP） system are analyzed, including virtual assembly model, real-time collision detection, automatic constraint recognition algorithm, cable harness assembly process planning and visual assembly process plan at the workshop. A virtual assembly model based on hierarchical assembly task list （HATL） is put forward, in which assembly tasks are defined to express component assembling operations and are sequentially and hierarchically organized according to different subassemblies, which can perfectly model the construction process of product, And a multi-layer automatic geometry constraint recognition algorithm of how to identify assmbly constraint relations in the virtual environment is proposed, then a four-layer collision detection algorithm is discussed. A VAPP system is built and some simple mechanical assemblies are used to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method and algorithms.

MODELING METHOD FOR PRODUCT STRUCTURE MAPPING BASED ON REVERSE SOLVING OF LOCUS AND MOTION

Aiming at the problem of structure design in reverse-design of mechanism, a structure mapping method based on reverse solving of locus and motion （RSLM） is presented. The mechanism scheme meeting the requirements of geometric and structural features is obtained through RSLM. The element instance subsets related to component are established based on the element type mapping, pair structure type mapping and design knowledge mapping between components and elements layer by layer. The assembly position mapping of elements is established based on the topological structure information of mechanism scheme, and the product modeling of structure mapping is realized. The algorithm program and prototype system of product structure mapping based on RSLM are developed. Application samples show that the method implements the integration of scheme design, assembly design and structure design, and modeling for product structure mapping based on RSLM. The feasibility of assembly is analyzed in scheme design that contributes to reducing the design error, and raising the design efficiency and quality.

Modular Fixture Assembly Model for Virtual Assembly Design

To support modular fixture assembly design in virtual environment,a multi-view based modular fixture virtual assembly model is proposed.Instead of squeezing all assembly related information into a single model,three complementary views of assembly model,element information,function and structure,and assembly relationship are proposed to be used.The first view contains the detailed element information,while the other two explicitly capture the hierarchical function relationships and mating relationships respectively.These views are complementary in the sense that each view only contains a specific aspect of assembly related information while together they include required assembly related information.The proposed assembly model is specialized to accommodate the features of modular fixture virtual assembly design and applied in our developed prototype system.

SELF-ORGANIZING ASSEMBLY MODELING BASED ON RELATIONAL CONSTRAINTS

On the research of assembly modeling of mechanical products,current CAD systems can only support the design Process of component-to-assembly. It is difficult to realize the design process of assembly-to -component.The theory of self-organizing assembly modeling based on relational constraints is proposed, which implements the product design of assembly-to-component commencing with conceptual design and supporting abstract design and step-nice refinement design.

Automatic generation of assembly dimension chain based on tolerance cell

In the process of generating assembly dimension chain automatically, there are many problems such as complex assembly relationship, variety of constraints of components and complex dimension and tolerance relations of components. These problems lead to many difficulties in search process and need lots of man-machine interaction. Because of these difficulties, this paper presents a method of automatic generation of assembly dimension chain based on tolerance cell. This method is realized through obtaining assembly tolerance cell and part tolerance cell first. These two types of tolerance cell are extracted and expressed in the form of linked list structure in computer further. Then assembly dimension chain is searched automatically based on obtained tolerance cell, and the correct assembly dimension chain is extracted finally. A system of generating assembly dimension chain automatically has been developed based on DELMIA and successfully deployed in aircraft assembly simulation in the engineerine practice.

USING LOGIC COMPONENTS FOR CONCEPTUAL DIE DESIGN

Logic components are used to support the conceptual design Taking the stamping die structure as the research object,several logic components are defined for the conceptual die construction design A new method logic assembly modeling is presented to satisfy the characteristic of the top down die design process Representing shapes and spatial relations in logic can provide a natural,intuitive method of developing complete computer systems for reasoning about die construction design at the conceptual stage This method can reflect the designer's thought clearly and provide the designer with a test bed for generating alternatives and performing reasoning work at the conceptual die design stage

Top-down assembly design using assembly features

The primary task of top-down assembly design is to define a product抯 detailed physical description satisfying its functional requirements identified during the functional design phase. The implementation of this design process requires two things, that is, product functional representation and a general assembly model. Product functions are not only the formulation of a customer抯 needs, but also the input data of assembly design. A general assembly model is to support the evolving process of the elaboration of a product structure. The assembly feature of extended concept is taken as a functional carrier, which is a generic relation among assembly-modeled entities. The model of assembly features describes the link between product functions and form features of parts. On the basis of this link, the propagation of design modifications is discussed so as to preserve the functionality and the coherence of the assembly model. The formal model of assembly design process describes the top-down process of creating an assembly model. This formal model is represented by the combination of assembly feature operations, the assembly model and the evaluation process. A design case study is conducted to verify the applicability of the presented approaches.

Application Research of assembly line modeling based on Time Petri Net

With the continuous progress of manufacturing industry,automatic assembly line has become a very mature production mode in modern factories,and the quality of assembly line design has become an important issue related to the development of manufacturing enterprises.In this paper,a graphical model based on Petri Net is established for the first full load time of the assembly line.The accessibility of the P/T system and the production rhythm of the assembly line are calculated by computer simulation.Finally,according to the simulation model,an experimental platform is built to verify the rationality of the model.Experimental results show that the model can accurately express the equipment allocation process of assembly line.

Error Analysis of Assembly Linkage of Transport Jig for Large Aircraft Parts

Aiming at the assembly accuracy of a large aircraft transport jig, the effect of component error and the error of work-piece surface on the work-piece position and orientation in the 3-2-1 fixturing scheme is studied with the object pose space description method. The error mapping model between the connecting part of the front frame rack and its support base is modeled using the homogeneous transformation matrix(HTM) method. The probabilistic error is simulated using the Monte Carlo method. The measurement experiment was conducted by the laser tracker to verify the effectiveness of the approach, and the approach has been successfully applied to the production of transport jig.

Application of Assembly Modeling and Simulation Technology to a Large Size Wind-drive Generator

Challenges still remain in carrying out assembly modeling efficiently in virtual assembly （VA） fields. One of the root causes is the apparent weakness in effective description of assembly knowledge and information. The assembly modeling, disassembly modeling, assembly interference inspection, assembly sequence planning and optimization, and assembly simulation display for key techniques is studied theoretically in this paper. An example of product assembly modeling is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. On the basis of re- search, using assembly simulation techniques and multimedia techniques to finish structure design in linkage design of a large size wind-drive generator. The application of the modeling method has shortened the lead time dramatically.

Solving Level Scheduling in Mixed Model Assembly Line by Simulated Annealing Method

This paper presents an application of the simulated annealing algorithm to solve level schedules in mixed model assembly line. Solving production sequences with both number of setups and material usage rates to the minimum rate will optimize the level schedule. Miltenburg algorithm (1989) is first used to get seed sequence to optimize further. For this the utility time of the line and setup time requirement on each station is considered. This seed sequence is optimized by simulated annealing. This investigation helps to understand the importance of utility in the assembly line. Up to 15 product sequences are taken and constructed by using randomizing method and find the objective function value for this. For a sequence optimization, a meta-heuristic seems much more promising to guide the search into feasible regions of the solution space. Simulated annealing is a stochastic local search meta-heuristic, which bases the acceptance of a modified neighboring solution on a probabilistic scheme inspired by thermal processes for obtaining low-energy states in heat baths. Experimental results show that the simulated annealing approach is favorable and competitive compared to Miltenburg’s constructive algorithm for the problems set considered. It is proposed to found 16,985 solutions, the time taken for computation is 23.47 to 130.35, and the simulated annealing improves 49.33% than Miltenberg.

An Elasto-plastic Damage Constitutive Theory Based on Pair Functional Potentials and Slip Mechanism

The deformation work rate can be expressed by the time rate of pair functional potentials which describe the energy of materi- als in terms of atomic bonds and atom embedding interactions. According to Cauchy-Born rule, the relations between the micro- scopic deformations of atomic bonds and electron gas and macroscopic deformation are established. Further, atomic bonds are grouped according to their directions, and atomic bonds in the same direction are simplified as a spring-bundle component. Atom embedding interactions in unit reference volume are simplified as a cubage component. Consequently, a material model com- posed of spring-bundle components and a cubage component is established. Since the essence of damage is the decrease and loss of atomic bonding forces, the damage effect can be reflected by the response functions of these two kinds of components. For- mulating the mechanical responses of two kinds of components, the corresponding elasto-damage constitutive equations are de- rived. Considering that slip is the main plastic deformation mechanism of polycrystalline metals, the slip systems of crystal are extended to polycrystalline, and the slip components are proposed to describe the plastic deformation. Based on the decomposition of deformation gradient and combining the plastic response with the elasto-damage one, the elasto-plastic damage constitutive equations are derived. As a result, a material model iormulated with spring-bundle components, a cubage component and slip components is established. Different from phenomenological constitutive theories, the mechanical property of materials depends on the property of components rather than that directly obtained on the representative volume element. The effect of finite deformation is taken into account in this model. Parameter calibration procedure and the basic characteristics of this model are discussed.

PLANNED LEAD TIME OPTIMIZATION IN MATERIAL REQUIREMENT PLANNING ENVIRONMENT FOR MULTILEVEL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

This paper deals with the problem of planned lead time calculation in a Material Requirement Planning （MRP） environment under stochastic lead times. The objective is to minimize the sum of holding and backlogging costs. The proposed approach is based on discrete time inventory control where the decision variables are integer. Two types of systems are considered： multi-level serial-production and assembly systems. For the serial production systems （one type of component at each level）, a mathematical model is suggested. Then, it is proven that this model is equivalent to the well known discrete Newsboy Model. This directly provides the optimal values for the planned lead times. For multilevel assembly systems, a dedicated model is proposed and some properties of the decision variables and objective function are proven. These properties are used to calculate lower and upper limits on the decision variables and lower and upper bounds on the objective function. The obtained limits and bounds open the possibility to develop an efficient optimization algorithm using, for example, a Branch and Bound approach. The paper presents the proposed models in detail with corresponding proofs and se＇~eral numerical examples. Some advantages of the suggested models and perspectives of this research are discussed.

Preliminarily modeling of creep effect in electro-dynamic loudspeaker suspensions

The creep effect of suspensions in electro-dynamic loudspeakers was modeled based on fractional order derivatives.The fractional standard linear solid（FSLS） model was presented by substituting the Abel dashpot for Newton dashpot in Standard Linear Solid（SLS） model.The electrical impedance as well as the transfer function between diaphragm displacement and input voltage of the two tested midrange loudspeakers was measured by Klippel laser analyzer system,and the model parameters were identified by the least-mean-square method.By comparing the fitting results of FSLS model with the other two classical models- 4 Parameter Logarithmic model and SLS model,the results show that the FSLS model can rightly predict the frequency dependent compliance loss factor and yield higher accuracy for modeling the creep effect in loudspeaker suspensions.

Assembly Sequence Planning for Mechanical Products

A method for assembly sequence planning is proposed in this paper. First, two methods for assembly sequence planning are compared, which are indirect method and direct method. Then, the limits of the previous assembly planning system are pointed out. On the basis of indirect method, an improved method for assembly sequence planning is put forward. This method is composed of four parts, which are assembly modeling for products, assembly sequence representing, assembly sequence planning, and evaluation and optimization. The assembly model is established by human machine interaction, and the assembly model contains components' information and the assembly relation among the components. The assembly sequence planning is based on the breaking up of the assembly model. And/or graph is used to represent assembly sequence set. Every component which satisfies the disassembly condition is recorded as a node of an and/or graph. After the disassembly sequence and/or graph is generated, heuristic algorithm AO * algorithm is used to search the disassembly sequence and/or graph, and the optimum assembly sequence planning is realized. This method is proved to be effective in a prototype system which is a sub project of a state 863/CIMS research project of China ‘Concurrent Engineering’.