Working of the System
Expert CAPP system provides an aid for the selection of an appropriate casting process for a given part. The selection process involves identifying a set of possible alternatives (casting processes) and ranking them according to their performance.
Expert system can be developed using a shell (Rulemaster, NExpert, Level) which provides facilities for storing Data, Rules and Explanations for the casting domain. Knowledge can be imputed using examples or directly rules and uncertainties can be associated. Both Backward and/or Forward reasoning strategies can be implemented.
User Input
User interactively inputs cast part attributes by way of a dialogue with the Expert System. The attributes are categorized into four classes as under
Design Attributes
Casting material, Minimum Section Thickness, Weight
Production Attributes
Production volume, Production rate
Manufacturing Attributes
Dimensional accuracy, Surface roughness
Trade off Attributes
Casting strength, cost.
The knowledge base stored in the system enables the selection of suitable casting process from among the following candidate processes.
- Manual sand casting
- Automatic sand casting
- Die casting
- Shell mould casting
- Plaster mould casting
- Investment casting
- Permanent mould casting
- Centrifugal casting