Manufacturability Testing (Design For Manufacturing)
Blog Post 1.02.03 - Test Successful Fabrication of Parts Before They Leave Engineering
Utilize Manufacturability Testing to determine that parts can be successfully fabricated. Read More ...
Global Edge Video Blog-1.02
Test Succesful Fabrication of Parts Before They Leave Engineering
A challenge for many manufacturing operations, especially for sheet metal fabricators, is to successfully fabricate a sheet metal part the first time it’s attempted on the shop floor. As engineering comes up with new part designs, there are several factors that come into play for successful sheet metal part fabrication that includes:
Material
- Proper Material Type
- Proper Material Thickness
- Proper Material Finish
Bending Machine Tool Capabilities
- Part within Allowable Tooling Limits
- Bend Angles within Allowable Limits
- Part within Bend Tonnage Limit
- Part Flange Size within Minimum and Maximum Limits
- Internal Bends with Height Limits
Hole / Embossment / Louver / Special Features Locations
- Pem Hole Distance from Bend Line
- Embossment / Louver Distance from Bend Line
- Special Feature Interference with Flange
Hardware Specifications
- Proper Matching Hardware
These are many of the factors can add to the complexity of the successful design and fabrication of a sheet metal part. The approach of the Global Edge Engineering Assistant is the capability to perform a “Manufacturability Test” to determine if the sheet metal part passes or fails the criteria with the above factors. As part of the Manufacturability Test process, the Global Edge Engineering Assistant starts with the automated analysis of a sheet metal CAD part to import and record the following CAD part parameters:
- Material / Thickness / Part Weight / Bend Radius
- Blank / Flat (Length & Width)
- Cutouts / Holes (Count & Size)
- Minimum / Maximum Bend Length
- Minimum / Maximum Bend Angle
- Minimum / Maximum Flange Width
- Minimum Pem Hole to Bend Line Gap
- Minimum Embossment to Bend Line Gap
- Minimum Louver to Bend Line Gap
- Maximum Up / Maximum Down Bend
- Fold / Hem / Extrude Counts
- Minimum Taper / Die Cut to Bend Line Gap
These CAD part parameters are subsequently stored in the Global Edge database to serve as a foundation for a “Manufacturability Testing” process. The CAD part parameters include identification up and down bends counts, location of Pem Hole and Louver distance from a bend line, including cutout counts and cutout perimeters, etc.
Sample CAD Part Parameters
As part of the CAD part analysis, the Global Edge Engineering Assistant automatically identifies and matches the sheet metal part with the proper user definable Bend Processes as illustrated with the following Sample Bend Process:
As the Global Edge Engineering Assistant completes the importation and storage of the CAD part parameters, the software automatically generates routings based on those parameters:
During the generation of the routings, the Global Edge Engineering Assistant automatically determines if the sheet metal part can be successfully fabricated with each of the routing steps. For example, with the “Press Brake Bending Operation”, the software automatically determines whether the sheet metal part can be successfully bent comparing the CAD Part Parameters with the matching Bend Process. This includes the automatic execution of a “Manufacturability Test” that allows the engineer to view the test results:
The above and below example includes 22 tests that were performed on the selected part. The highlighted test below (Minimum Down Pem Gap) detected a warning that “Feature Within Warning Gap”. The matching Bend Process for the sheet metal part requires the Minimum Down Pem Gap is at least 1.500000 inches from the nearest bend line. The detected gap with the selected sheet metal part is 1.800000 inches, which indicates the gap is allowable. However, a Warning Message is detected because ideally with the matching Bend Process indicates that the Minimum Down Pem Gap should ideally be at least 2.000000 inches.
When a manufacturability test fails one or more tests, the engineer can make the appropriate change(s) to the necessary 3D CAD Sheet Metal Model and repeat the Manufacturability Test until the errors are corrected. The Global Edge Engineering Assistant provides an innovative software tool that helps speed up the whole prototyping process and eliminates shop floor rework by getting things right the first time before a part reaches the shop floor.
