Existing product models do not adequately support
the modelling of weld products during the early design
stages. A newly developed aggregate product model for welding
is introduced, which forms part of CAPABLE, a concurrent
engineering toolkit for machining and welding. This product
model supports the representation of the design at multiple
levels of detail and allows the rapid modelling of alternative
designs where solid model representation is inappropriate.
The potential applications of the aggregate product model
in weld product design, such as the integration of joint
design and weldability assessment, are discussed using
simple examples. The design of weld products must consider
process-dependent properties including geometry, materials
combinations, and weld joint characteristics to arrive
at a near-optimal configuration. The object-oriented and
feature-based model structure of CAPABLE enhances the design
process by the automatic generation of compatible options
and allows rapid design evaluation. The aggregate product
model provides the input data necessary for tasks like
process selection, optimization, process sequencing, fixture
design and welding orientation selection. The main advantage
of this product model over traditional CAD environments
is that planning of the welding and fabrication operations
can start during the conceptual and embodiment stages of
the design process, thus ensuring the concurrency of design
and planning tasks and resulting in product and process
improvement and cost reduction.
