Feature taxonomies for rotational parts: a review and proposed taxonomies

A major element of computer-integrated manufacturing is the link between computer-aided design (CAD) on one side, and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and process planning on the other. This paper is concerned with a key aspect of this link, that is the definition of a feature taxonomy for rotational parts and the specification of the features and their associated parameters. The aims of this paper are to review existing taxonomies and to define new feature taxonomies for rotational parts using the basic structure of the Product Data Exchange Specification (PDES). PDES is intended to be an internal data representation scheme and, as such, is relatively complex. The feature taxonomies presented in this paper provide, in effect, a natural interface to the PDES internal data representation. The work done on feature-based CAD systems is reviewed. The background to rotational part features is described and an overview of PDES is given. Two feature taxonomies for rotational parts are then described. The first is directly based on PDES, while the second is based on design-features. A table is given showing how this design feature taxonomy can be mapped onto PDES features. The advantages of the latter feature taxonomy (that is the one based on design-features) are, first, that the designer uses design terms and features, which is a more natural and effective mode of operation for the designer, second, that the design-features can be relatively easily mapped onto the PDES representation, and third, that the taxonomy is less complex and more concise than PDES. The result is a taxonomy that represents features of rotational parts concisely and clearly while retaining terms that are familiar to the designer.