Expert system for the process sequence design of a ball stud

A ball stud is used for joining the mechanical elements of a ball joint in the steering or suspension system of automobiles. Process sequence design for the manufacturing of a ball stud, highly dependent on experience-based trial and error, limits the productivity and competitiveness of the product in meetings the demands of the current market. In this study, an expert system for the process sequence design of a ball stud was developed based on the Windows environment on an IBM personal computer (PC) as part of building a computer integrated design system. The developed system was composed of the main design expert system, a database system, and a computer aided design (CAD) system. The design rules were extracted from the drawings from interviews with production and design experts, and from the literature. Initial standard process sequence design was determined by looking into the characteristics and constraints of each process in forming a product. Then this design sequence was modified by applying redesigning rules to accommodate the machine capacities, such as limiting sequencing number and/or the limiting load of the forming machine selected. The input and output modules for a graphical display were implemented in the developed system. The database system was separately formulated from the main design expert system to enable data sharing among the work places and to assist the engineers with the ball stud process design by checking the feasibility of re-using existing dies and drawings. The re-designed process data were saved in dxf files for transferring the data to a commercial CAD system such as AutoCAD, from which the drawing can be obtained. The developed system was found to be useful in generating the process sequence of a ball stud used in practice. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.