Development of an expert system for process planning in the cold forging technology

Some progress on a research project aimed at designing and developing a comprehensive and integrated CAD/CAE system for cold forging technology in the automotive industry are presented and discussed. The system is specifically designed to improve product quality and engineering efficiency in the forging departments. Integrated with the technological data base and the kernel CAD system throughout functional and data interfaces, the CAE modules provide the designer with a suite of computer- and A.I.- based tools for the activities to be performed each time authorization is given to produce a new part by multi-stage cold forging. The paper is mainly focused on the development of the knowledge-based system-module capable of generating and ana1ysing for suitability the fanning sequences for multi-stage cold forging of solid and hollow rotationally symmetric parts