Description logic-based automatic generation of geometric tolerance zones

摘要

The automation of tolerance design process and the exchange of tolerance data semantics are currently two of the hottest research topics in computer-aided tolerancing. In previous work, we have proposed a description logic-based approach to implement the automation of the process of tolerance-type design. This approach can not only generate tolerance types automatically in CAD systems, but also ground for the exchange of tolerance data semantics among heterogeneous CAD systems. In this paper, we continue this line of research. We further extend the above approach by using description logic SROIQ(D) to implement the automatic generation of geometric tolerance zones (GTZs) in CAD systems. This extension mainly includes: (1) constructing a meta-model of each type of GTZs with SROIQ(D) concept definition axioms, (2) defining some generation rules of GTZ types in SROIQ(D) concept subsumption axioms according to the constructed meta-model, (3) designing a generation algorithm of GTZs on the basis of the meta-model, the defined rules, and the satisfiability decision algorithm of SROIQ(D) concepts, and (4) implementing the designed algorithm with the use of the second generation web ontology language description logic (OWL 2 DL) ontology-based technologies. This extended approach will further reduce the uncertainty in product tolerance design and lay a solid basis for the future study of the automation of tolerance allocation and analysis and the exchange of tolerance data semantics.