Abstract
This paper describes a prototype web-based service for performing manufacturability analysis of design tolerances for parts produced using solid freeform fabrication processes. Our prototype service primarily serves two different types of users — process providers and designers. Process providers register the process capabilities and constraints of their processes with the service. Designers upload the geometry and tolerance information of the part to our server and select a process from the list of registered processes and perform an analysis of the feasibility of manufacturing the part using the selected process. Manufacturing feasibility is identified by analyzing the effect of build direction on the achievable tolerances on various faces of the part. If there is at least one build direction that can satisfy all tolerance requirements, then the part is considered manufacturable. Otherwise, the part is considered non-manufacturable. In this paper, we describe the architecture of our prototype service and explain in detail the process of registering process capabilities and performing manufacturability analysis using our prototype service. We also describe an algorithm to formulate redesign suggestions that can propose suitable modifications to the part design so that a non-manufacturable part can become manufacturable.
