Feature-based representation for manufacturing planning

Product models are required to support a wide range of applications but, whilst features have been used to support single applications, it is unusual to find feature representations that simultaneously fulfil the information needs of several applications. A formal structure for the representation of assembly and process planning in a feature-based design system is presented, using mating and functional relationships. Objectoriented programming techniques have been used to implement a prototype system using the ACIS solid modelling kernel. The research has demonstrated that a single feature representation can be used to support a number of activities within a computer integrated manufacturing environment.