Computer-aided design and manufacturing of scroll compressors

Scroll type compressors have been becoming increasingly popular in refrigeration and air conditioning products due to their high efficiency, low noise, fewer components, low vibration, light weight and small size compared with other types of compressors. To design and manufacture scroll compressors, however, is not easy as their key parts have complex shapes with involute curves. A high degree of accuracy during assembly is required which brings difficulty into the manufacturing cycle. This paper presents the integrated approach of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) for the design and manufacture of refrigeration scroll compressors. The approach is based on concurrent engineering and is implemented in Pro/ENGINEER software and Visual C++ programming. The work presented is focused on the integration of constructive solid geometry (CSG) solid modelling and CAM to effect the design of scroll compressors in particular. The involute scroll curve is created from equations. Designers can transfer the model to a manufacturing engineer for process planning, etc. The manufacturing engineer can also advise the designer if some revisions are needed and the model can even be evaluated through the Internet. Many experts can check the models and processes of design and manufacturing. Thus, solid modelling and machine tool path simulation can bridge the gap between design and manufacturing which is essential for concurrent engineering. With this approach a correct and precise solid model can be achieved, which leads to an optimal design in terms of quality, delivery time and cost. This work is essential for the manufacturing of the scroll components and their inspection on co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs) during manufacture. This CAD/CAM system has a potential application to other complex mechanical components, as the approach is a generic one. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.