Abstract
A process planning system for cold forging of non-axisymmetric parts of comparatively simple shape was developed in this study. Programs for the system have been written with Visual LISP in AutoCAD. Shape of the product must be drawn with the solid line and the hidden line, and with the plane and front view, as well. At the plane, the system recognizes the external shape of non-axisymmetric portions - the number of the sides of the regular polygons and the radii of circles inscribing and circumscribing the polygon. At the front view, the system cognizes the diameter of axisymmetric portions and the height of the primitive geometries such as polygon, cylinder, cone, concave, convex, etc. The system perceives that the list developed from the solid line must be formed by the operation of forward extrusion or upsetting, and that the list developed from the hidden line must be formed by the operation of backward extrusion. The system designs the intermediate geometries again by considering clearance between workpiece and die, and then finally the billet diameter, in reverse order from the finished product, on the basis of volume constancy and using the operations, the forming sequence, the number of operations and the intermediate geometries which were already designed. The design rules and knowledges for the system were extracted from the plasticity theories, handbook, relevant reference and empirical knowledge of field experts. Suitability of the process planning was analyzed using SuperForge of FVM simulation package. The results of analysis showed good formability.