A Study On Function-Oriented CAD Of Panel Trimming And Punching Die Design

With the development of auto industry, traditional design method for panel dies can not accommodate to the requirement of product exploitation. Currently, through many factories use universal CAD systems to aid the design of panel dies, the applications are limited to geometric modeling or drafting. These systems can not support design process to achieve function satisfaction, and can not support top-down design. As a key equipment for the production of panels, trimming and punching die became a bottle-neck for the development of auto dies. So it is very necessary to exploit a practical CAD system for panel trimming and punching die design.After analysing the typical structure of trimming and punching dies and feature modeling of panel dies, the authors present the basic principles of function-oriented CAD for panel dies, which begins from the user's requirements, and ends at committing the functions. The paper discusses the resolving of the main function and the mapping between function and structure. The former simplifies the complicated design problem through resolving main function into sub-functions. The mapping between function and structure connects function with structure.Based on the theoretical study, the authors have developed a function-oriented CAD system of trimming and punching dies for panels. The system consists of five modules, i.e. initializtion of project, function modeling, detailed structure design, functional component management, hirarcihcal assembly modeling. An algorithm is proposed, which can resolve the problem of splitting and adjusting the dividing points of dies and punches very well. The system can create 3D models of trim steel, trim post, lower scrap cutter, ejector, etc. The system can meet the basic requirements of trimming and punching die design for panels, improve both the quality and efficiency of die design, and shorten panel die design time remarkably.