Experimental investigation of STEP form-feature information model
Computer-Aided Design
A collaborative environment based on distributed object-oriented databases
Computers in Industry - Special double issue: WET ICE '95
A STEP-based object-oriented product model for process planning
CIE '96 Proceedings of the 19th international conference on Computers and industrial engineering
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This research proposes a STEP-enabled generic product modelling framework (GPMF) for efficient information exchange and sharing in support of rapid product development in a modern manufacturing environment. This framework consists of four functional components: an EXPRESS data model, namely EDM; a STEP-based modelling environment; a 'five-phase' modelling method; and three EDM data exchange and sharing methods. The focus of this research is placed on the modelling methodologies and the definition of schemas for various product development activities such as manufacturing, inspection, etc., and the integration of the schemas with other resources defined within STEP. There are 25 schemas defined to enable that the proposed GPMF is compatible and can be used in modelling various types of products. These aspects, to our best knowledge, are not studied extensively in the literature. The structure of framework will be discussed in the paper with the focus placed on the EDM as the core of the framework. Case studies are carried out to validate the proposed GPMF. Two products are chosen from different engineering disciplines. They are modelled into product models according to the GPMF. Each case utilizes one of the EDM data exchange and sharing methods and its corresponding software environment to obtain the product models that are presented as STEP Part 21 exchange files, STEP objects and a database object. A prototype system called product data management system (PDMS) is developed to test the GPMF. The case studies show that the product models built based on the GPMF are capable of integrating information in product design, manufacturing and assembly, and the GPMF is compatible, comprehensive and flexible.