Taking the distortion of component parts along a manufacturing chain into consideration during planning

Distortion of a component part can already be minimized if it is considered in the planning of the manufacturing process. Thus, costs of the removal of distortion, e. g. by grinding, can be reduced. Beginning with steel production the state of a workpiece changes every process step continuously. Thereby, a distortion potential arises that will be visible at the component part after hardening as distortion. To consider distortion in planning the state has to be determined at every time of manufacturing. So far, no tools exist to describe the workpiece state along an entire process chain. In this article an alternative will be presented which is able to describe changes of states along an entire manufacturing chain. Finally, with this description an estimation of the expected distortion can be carried out.