Manufacturability Analysis for Welding - A Case Study Using Howtomation© Suite

This paper is a summary of master thesis written in the fall of 2015 in the department of Product Development in Jonkoping University in Sweden as a part of a research project with focus on the implementation and management of systems for design automation and design for manufacturing. It includes an implementation with the aim of enhancing a system currently in operation at an aerospace supplier. The system is used for multi-objective design analysis in the early phases of product development. The analysis involves both the performance of the jet engines components as well as their manufacturability. The work is focused on the weldability assessment, based on available weld methods and the weld capabilities of the company. A number of rules for analysing the weldability are proposed. To keep this knowledge transparent, traceable and updatable it is managed by a novel software called Howtomation© Suite which is a forward chaining inferencing engine. The proposed framework enables a weldability index and welding cost guide to be derived, helping the designers choose appropriate weld method in early design stages.