Integrating expert knowledge in behavioral feature based product models

Purpose of the reported research is getting more information about nature and characteristics of feature based models of mechanical parts then developing a new approach and method to active modeling. The authors developed an extended feature and associativity driven and product model oriented approach to part modeling. Generic and part instance related knowledge is proposed to include in the model on a way that allows active application of the model. Previous research by the authors in modeling of part manufacturing processes, human-computer procedures and design intent are considered as preliminaries of the reported research. In this paper active model entities are proposed for mechanical parts. Main sources of knowledge represented in the model are modeling procedures, generic part models and engineers. Features defined in the model are compatible with international industrial standards for product models. As an introduction, paper discusses earlier results of the authors and the present scenario of the proposed intelligent modeling. Then relevant methods for application of computational intelligence in computer model based engineering systems are detailed. Next, a behavior based part model with specification and knowledge for design process is outlined. Finally, an active modeling method is proposed and possibilities for its implementation are discussed.