CAD/CAM Applications on Press Die Design and Manufacturing

The progress in Numerical Control and Computer technics has changed many aspects of car body design and manufacturing. Complicated three dimensional shapes must be handled accurately and efficiently. Hence CAD/CAM has come to play a major role in this field and this trend has become even stronger with the rapid progress of computer graphics during the past few years. Methodology of CAD/CAM, its effects on design and manufacturing work, and some prospects for the future are discussed in this paper. Included are some examples from our company of CAD/CAM applications on the production of tools for car bodies, especially the designing and manufacturing of press dies.