An integrated knowledge based system for sheet metal cutting–punching combination processing

Cutting and punching are two important processes in the sheet metal industry; the former is flexible in processing whilst the latter is effective in production. To combine the advantages of both, the so-called combination machines that combine the cutting and punching processes are used in sheet metal processing. To support such machines, this paper presents an integrated knowledge based CAD/CAM system for sheet metal cutting–punching combination processing. The whole system consists of five functional modules, i.e., modeling, nesting, process planning, NC-programming and simulation and reporting module. These modules share a unified objected-oriented data structure, so they are integrated seamlessly in terms of data processing. The knowledge base is the core of the integrated system, based on which, the system runs in an efficient and intelligent manner. This system has been successfully applied in industry, and an application example is demonstrated.