7。 Module FSTNR for selection of fasteners (bolts & dowels)。

The execution of the system PROCOMP is shown in Figure 1。 The modules are designed to take required input data automatically from already built output data files namely COMP。DAT,  SWLSEL。DAT  and  OPRSEQ。DAT。  The   system

invites the user to enter part data information such as production quantity, tolerance, sheet thickness, sheet material, shear strength of sheet etc。 through prompt area of AutoCAD。 The system automatically stores these part data in a part data file labeled as

476 Short paper

S。 Kumar, R。 Singh

COMP。DAT。 The data files SWLSEL。DAT and OPRSEQ。DAT are generated automatically during the execution of KBS of strip- layout of metal stamping work on progressive die developed by the authors and described in ref。 [15]。 The file SWLSEL。DAT stores the optimal size of sheet metal strip and the file OPRSEQ。DAT comprises of proper sequence of required sheet metal operations。 As shown in Figure 1 all the modules of system are designed to store their outputs in form of dimensions of die components in various output data files named  as DBLOCK。DAT, DG。DAT, DIALCL。DAT, STRPR。DAT, PPDIM。DAT,   BPDIM。DAT,   DSDIM。DAT,   DSSEL。DAT and

FSTNR。DAT。 These data files can be further utilized for automating the modeling of progressive die components and die assembly。

During consultation, the proposed system generates friendly prompts eliciting from the user for job related data。 The system output includes expert advices on the type and dimensions of progressive die components for automating the die design process。 The system has been tested for wide variety of sheet metal parts。 A sample of typical prompts, user responses and expert advices rendered by the system for one industrial component (Figure 2) is given in Table 1。 The recommendations of  the  system modules were found to be reasonable and very similar to those actually used in industries, namely M/S Anurina Tristar Pvt。 Ltd。, New Delhi, India for example component。 The system has been implemented on a PC having AutoCAD software。

Fig。 1。 Execution of the System PROCOMP

A knowledge-based system for selection of progressive die   components

Table 1。

A sample of typical prompts, user responses and expert advices generated by the system PROCOMP for example component (Figure 2)

S。 No。 Prompts Example data entry Advice to the user

1 (Load “A:/PROCOMP”) Welcome to the knowledge base system PROCOMP developed for selection of progressive die components。

2 Enter type of die material Tool Steel Select size of die block - Die block thickness in mm = 28, Die block width in mm = 160, Die block length in mm = 300。 Please enter command DIEGAGE

3 Enter the shape of die hole contour smooth Select width of front spacer in mm =47。7, and Thickness of front spacer in mm =8。0。

4 Enter sheet material hardness (HRC) 20 Set cutting clearance all around punch and die in mm = 0。035。 Please enter command STRPR

5 STRPR Select die-size fixed-stripper of HRC 48-52 with strip width variation allowance = 2。5 mm, and channel Height in mm = (2。0 times sheet thickness)+ 0。75。 Please enter command PCHPL