Botef, Ionel2007-02-222007-02-222007-02-22http://hdl.handle.net/10539/2092Student Number : 0111474R - PhD thesis - School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built EnvironmentOne of the most daunting challenges in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is bridging the gap between Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). Past research into CAPP, considered one of the most important and most complicated computer aided systems, resulted in a wealth of knowledge but unresolved problems still exist. The actual CAPP systems are considered large, complex, and monolithic, with limited extensibility, low-level of integration with other applications, and high development and maintenance costs. Consequently, this thesis develops a new framework that focuses on a CAPP architecture for problem solving that manages complexity through simplicity, and applies principles and strategies used in manufacturing enterprise management, automation, robotics, and software engineering, that finally leads to a system of systems which is human-centric, architectural-centric, process-centric, and in line with the IT (Information Technology) infrastructure trends. Thereafter, the framework is used to develop a number of software applications that apply object-oriented programming as a new way of thinking about solving CAPP problems and as a promising alternative to other techniques. Then, the capabilities of the new approach are demonstrated through the use of examples. The thesis ends with conclusions about the new CAPP approach, and finally highlights its theoretical and practical implications.202104 bytes472331 bytes1521478 bytes1403786 bytes664403 bytes163708 bytes124348 bytes772071 bytes151429 bytes230744 bytes143747 bytes98650 bytes409611 bytes197128 bytes169153 bytes291859 bytes1498243 bytes115768 bytes153419 bytes58737 bytesapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfenmanafacturing systemssoftware architectureCAPPThesis