Identification of functional sets in mechanical assembly models

Abstract

Easy retrieval of product data and related information is extremely important for knowledge and data reuse in new product development. Nowadays the adoption of PDM (Product Data Management) systems makes the reuse easy providing means for documenting all the data related to a product, thus making possible their retrieval through the inserted metadata. Unfortunately, large datasets are available in which data are not documented; therefore, retrieval systems based on content similarities according to different criteria would be beneficial. In this paper, we face the problem of identifying functional sets. The main difficulties relay in the variety in terms of shape and representation of the components that can achieve the same functionality. To overcome this issue, we present a multi-step approach, which considers a component embedded in the whole assembly model, improving component characterization.