An Expert System of Die Design for Multi Stage Deep Drawing Process

Deep drawing process is mainly used to produce automotive & aerospace components, house hold utensils, casings of electronic devices and many more. It is a plastic deformation process consists of tools viz. punch, die and blank holder. The workpiece is set on the die and hold with blank holder. Then, punch travel to deform the workpiece. The tooling of the process varies with different material and geometrical aspects. The die of the deep drawing process plays a vital role because the precision and accuracy of final product is depending upon the accuracy, surface quality and tolerance of the die. The die designing for any component is a combination of art, science and expertise. Of course, it is also tedious job and that requires highly skilled man power. Hence, an expert system has been developed to design die for multi stage deep drawing operations using VB.NET and AUTOCAD. Multi stage deep drawing process (MSDDP) is normally used for the components having high length to diameter ratio (LDR). This system is indigenous of its kind which requires few data i.e. work material type, physical properties & shape and size of final product. The system will predict and estimate number of draws, clearance and force required by punch & blank holder during each pass. The knowledge of die design experts (industries, academics and professionals) are fed in terms of rules. The system is quite capable to generate manufacturing drawing of die sets for all sequence of operations. Moreover, it is most suitable to make templates of products which are normally used during inspection and testing. This will reduce indirect costs and lead time. It also improves quality and productivity. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY -NC -ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).