A Knowledge Based Engineering Approach for Design Automation (A Case Study: Rectangular Turret of Transformer)

Abstract

The success of manufacturing companies depends on their ability to produce highquality products at the lowest cost. This applies to a transformer industry that aims to create designs that are optimized for manufacture. In striving for lower cost, it may be worthwhile to focus on the design phase of product development, since most of the product cost is committed there. This cost is, however, not often seen until it is allocated later or downstream in the product development process. Currently, design phase is often conducted on conventional computer-aided solid modeling design tools in the transformer industry, which takes time and entails the risk of missing design flaws. Knowledge based engineering (KBE) has become a practical method of visualizing manufacturing cost and enabling product analysis by simulating product development activities in design for manufacturing support tools. The aim of this work is to discover how knowledge based engineering (KBE), an approach which includes engineering design, knowledge based engineering (KBE) and similar knowledge intensive methods, can be used to improve productivity of transformer industry. Further advent of the UG/Knowledge Fusion proved to revolutionize the way an organization looks at solving and automating repetitive engineering problems. The presented work shows how an automated design system can be used to capture and present knowledge extracted from performance, manufacturing and maintenance activities, creating a better foundation for making decisions regarding conceptual design. Engineers can then change the design and directly assess the life cycle cost allowing fast iterations, based on knowledge from design, manufacturing and maintenance disciplines.