A KBE CAPP framework for qualified additive manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is going to perform a key role in customized or even small-batch production due to its enlarged design freedom, decreased processing constraints and a non-obvious relationship between the processing cost and complexity. However, the AM production result is not stable because there is a lack of a full processing chain management tool to control the quality. To achieve qualified AM, this paper proposes a knowledge-based process planning (KBE CAPP) framework to solve three main issues: feasibility, suitability and stability in AM production. A developing CAPP prototype system based on this framework is presented for method demonstration. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of CIRP.