Application of case-based reasoning for machining parameters selection

Process planning, as one of the most important stage of the technological production preparation, consists in selection of manufacturing operations taking into account the minimal manufacturing cost. The minimal manufacturing cost could be achieved by selection of the best sequence of manufacturing operations, machine tools, manufacturing tools, and accompanying machining parameters selection. On the other hand, it is almost impossible, especially in industrial conditions, to design an optimal process plan, first of all due to restrictions imposed by the installed in the factory machine park. Taking into consideration above, machining parameter selection seems to be one of the potential areas of optimization. In manual process planning process engineers select machining parameters using selection rules and data stored in manuals and tool catalogues. It makes this process time and labour consuming and non-error free. On the other hand, in workshop practice, machine operators select parameters having their skills and habits in mind. It could be a reason for suboptimal process planning. Considering this, new methods of machining parameters selection free of human factor influence are still sought. In our approach, we propose to apply case-based reasoning for machining parameter selection. In the paper, a detailed description of our approach is presented.