CAPP for Forming Processes

Sheet metal parts are widely used in various domestic and industrial products such as mixers, washing machines, utensils, containers, automobiles and aircrafts. These parts are produced on metal forming presses using special tools/dies which perform series of manufacturing operations on flat sheets.

Accuracy, productivity and cost of these parts is primarily governed by the quality of dies which are capital intensive. These complex dies are traditionally designed by human experts who have long experience, expertise and knowledge of the forming operations. Design of dies is more of an art than science.

Manual die design tends to be slow, subjective and often sub optimal. Researchers worldwide are, thus attempting to develop Computer Aided Process Planning and Die Design Systems with an objective to improve agility and shorten lead time from design to manufacturing.

In this Unit, salient features of CAPP Systems for sheet metal forming will be discussed.

Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to understand

• The need and objectives for developing a CAPP System for sheet metal forming,
• Modular architecture of automated Process Planning and Die Design Systems,
• Working of typical CAPP Systems for Stamping and Drawing operations, and
• Case studies and examples.