InfoFrax : CBR in Fused Cast Refractory Manufacture

This paper describes a CBR application in manufacturing industry, a domain where CBR has by and large proved its applicability and success. The paper details a thorough understanding of the field of fused cast manufacturing basically seen from the perspective of glass furnace, where quality of glass produced is straightaway related to the refractory blocks used in furnace linings. The applicability of CBR paradigm is revisited in the present context. The CBR process needed is conceptualized and designed. The paper states in detail the evolution of the system starting from tackling hurdles of the knowledge acquisition and refining, facing a number of pitfalls in the prototype phase, to final implementation of InfoFrax, a CBR system specially devised for the project, and overall description of the same covering architecture, and usage. The paper also reports the immediate effects of the software in form of direct user feedback, expectations from the existing system and some directions of future work already underway in the project.