An approach for systematic process planning of gear transmission parts

Abstract: The objective of this thesis is to find and develop methods that enhance and support the creation of evolvable master process plans with possibilities to challenge productivity and meet changing design requirements. The condition for achieving this is primarily that both the fundamental thinking and the results behind a process plan can be described. How should this be done?The focus is laid on process planning of gear transmission parts for heavy vehicles like trucks and coaches.Process planning is the activity where design and manufacturing are brought together with the common target to achieve both a competitive product and production process. There are many factors that influence the process planner when a new product or process shall be introduced for production. Process planning is, in most cases, performed by an experienced, skilled person but without any defined methodology or way of working. Much of the process planning is based on the retrieval of solutions already used.Much research effort has been devoted to developing systems for computer-aided process planning (CAPP). Yet CAPP systems have not been accepted and spread over a wide front within the manufacturing industry, much because of the functional incompleteness combined with the difficulties of adopting knowledge and changing requests.A method for systematic process planning is proposed as a way to perform and describe the procedure of creating a process plan. The method facilitates the interpretation and understanding of the plan, not only immediately for the process planner responsible, but also for designers, engineers, researchers and other interest groups involved in a manufacturing process.In the last chapter is a case study regarding manufacturing of a bevel gear pinion presented to exemplify use of the proposed method for systematic process planning.