Model-driven Approach for integrated Design and Process Planning of Fiber Composite Aerostructures

Automation of design and planning activities is a key enabler for integrated product development and design optimization, especially for complex airframe structures. For this purpose, a model-driven approach for the automated generation of process models for the manufacturing of structural components is developed. The approach is implemented as a graph-based design language, where models are stored as semantic graphs, and model transformations are realized through graph transformation rules. Key elements of the implementation are discussed, including classes, object patterns and graph transformations for modeling the product and the process planning. The generated process models cover manufacturing tasks, requirements and resources. Moreover, the duration of manufacturing tasks is computed with individual task models based on the input design information. A scheduling algorithm is integrated to find an optimal manufacturing sequence considering limited production resources. Sequence optimization is formulated as a constraint satisfaction problem. All steps are integrated into a fully automated program, so that it is possible to estimate the production lead time of complex fiber composite structures considering constraints regarding technology, resources and sequence. It is shown that process planning models can be generated and analyzed based on variable design information and static manufacturing knowledge. Thereby, the presented research contributes to integrated product development and design optimization of fiber composite structures.