Associative feature modeling for concurrent engineering integration

In typical product development processes, like plastic injection mould design, design information flow is not well supported by the current available IT systems. At different stages of a product life cycle, from documentation of requirement specifications, to conceptual design, detailed structure design and production, engineering knowledge is striped off except the bare minimum geometrical and control data, such as computer-aided design (CAD) solid models and cutting tool paths. Associative relations among engineering features are normally ignored; hence data consistency and design changes are difficult to be managed. In this paper, interfacing knowledge oriented tools and CAD application is identified as a technical gap for intelligent product development, and the concept of associative feature is introduced. For high-level reasoning and the execution of decisions, to define associative features in the form of self-contained and well-defined design objects is essential. As a case study, cooling channels in the design of plastic injection moulds with a CAD tool are modeled as an illustrating associative feature type. Potential integration among different applications based on such associative features is also explored