A rule-based approach to predict forging volume for cost estimation during product design

摘要

The cost of manufacturing a part is an important consideration as it is being designed. However, early in the design process, not all of the design details of a part are decided, so the cost must be estimated from a limited amount of data. Raw material typically represents a significant portion of the part’s final cost, especially when parts are formed by forging, which requires a significant amount of additional material to be added to the final part. Therefore, an accurate estimate of the volume of the forging die is needed from limited information about the part geometry. This paper describes a rule-based system to quickly estimate the geometry (and thus, the volume) of the forging die that will be needed for an axisymmetric part based on its geometry. Tests of the methodology on aircraft engine components demonstrate that the methodology produces accurate estimates of the billet weight. Keywords Cost estimation - Forging - Jet engine design