A Knowledge-Based Approach to Demonstrate Feasibility of Powder Metallurgy Process

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining popularity since the 1960s. Expert Systems (ES) within artificial intelligence are now being applied to industrial and manufacturing areas as a means of solving problems and as decision making aids. Expert systems provide a way to capture expert knowledge so mat it is not permanently lost. With the stiff competition in the world market, the tendency is leaning toward manufacturing the part with control of several parameters especially from the point of view of conserving material and money. Powder metallurgy is a metalworking process for forming precision metal and nonmetal components and shapes from particulate matters. The main reason for this fast advancing technology is that it is an economical, high-volume production method for making parts almost to the final dimensions and finishing them with little or no machining operations. Certain design and manufacturing considerations during the design and manufacture of a powder metallurgy component can result in cost savings during fabrication. It is the intent of this paper to present a knowledge-based expert system approach to evaluate the feasibility of powder metallurgy process for product design.