A hybrid conjugated method for assembly sequence generation and explode view generation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an efficient hybrid method that can collectively address assembly sequence generation (ASG) and exploded view generation (EVG) problem effectively. ASG is an act of finding feasible collision free movement of components of a mechanical product in accordance with the assembly design. Although the execution of ASG is complex and time-consuming in calculation, it is highly essential for efficient manufacturing process. Because of numerous limitations of the ASG algorithms, a definite method is still unavailable in the computer-aided design (CAD) software, and therefore the explosion of the product is not found to be in accordance with any feasible disassembly sequence (disassembly sequence is reverse progression of assembly sequence). The existing EVG algorithms in the CAD software result in visualization of the entire constituent parts of the product over single screen without taking into consideration the feasible order of assembly operations; thus, it becomes necessary to formulate an algorithm which effectively solves ASG and EVG problem in conjugation. This requirement has also been documented as standard in the “General Information Concerning Patents: 1.84 Standards for drawings” in the United States Patent and Trademark office (2005) which states that the exploded view created for any product should show the relationship or order of assembly of various parts that are permissible. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a unique ASG method has been proposed and is further extended for EVG. The ASG follows a deterministic approach to avoid redundant data collection and calculation. The proposed method is effectively applied on products which require such feasible paths of disassembly other than canonical directions. Findings The method is capable of organizing the assembly operations as linear or parallel progression of assembly such that the assembly task is completed in minimum number of stages. This result is further taken for EVG and is found to be proven effective. Originality/value Assembly sequence planning (ASP) is performed most of the times considering the geometric feasibility along canonical axes without considering parallel possibility of assembly operations. In this paper, the proposed method is robust to address this issue. Exploded view generation considering feasible ASP is also one of the novel approaches illustrated in this paper.