Ontology-based manufacturability analysis automation for industrialized construction

The current digital fabrication workflow requires many iterations between design and manufacturing. Automated manufacturability analysis can reduce the number of iterations at the design stage. However, existing approaches that leverage design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) do not consider detailed product features and production capabilities. To address this limitation, this paper utilizes an ontology-based approach to connect design and manufacturing knowledge. The developed manufacturability analysis system (MAS) involves semantic reasoning to analyze manufacturability by combining feature-based modelling, production capability modelling and manufacturing rules. The system was tested on a timber panelized project to demonstrate complex manufacturability analysis capability. The testing proves that the system could provide real-time feedback to the designers, leading to fewer design iterations. Thus, the paper is a first step towards automated fabrication-aware design and the results from the study lay the foundation for future research on connecting knowledge for interdisciplinary rule checking