Application of part manufacturing process model in virtual manufacturing

The paper introduces a research to integrate manufacturing process modeling in virtual manufacturing. This requires development of manufacturing process modeling as a tool for evaluation of manufacturability of mechanical products. The authors apply for this purpose a manufacturing process modeling method that makes it possible to create a more or less generic process model for clusters of manufacturing tasks. Integration of this modeling method in a comprehensive product model is an another purpose of the research. Using evaluation of this process model, manufacturability of parts is assessed on the basis of part model information. Production environment, production planning and cost data are used for this assessment. Manufacturing process model entities are represented by Petri nets. This formalism has proved to be a versatile virtual manufacturing tool in manufacturing process planning and manufacturing environment design. The authors offer a procedure for evaluation of the applied process model. Feasibility and resource requirements of the manufacturing are revealed. The paper starts with an introduction to the applied concept in virtual manufacturing. Then the applied process model is outlined. Following this, concept, method and characteristics of the manufacturability analysis as well as some solutions for problems emerging during evaluation of the model in close connection with changes in design and production environment are detailed. Finally, impact of the proposed manufacturing process model as an integrated element in a comprehensive virtual manufacturing concept is explained.