Information and Knowledge Models Supporting Brake Friction Material Manufacturing

The product development process usually encompasses a very complex and interdisciplinary environment in which product is seen by different views related with the life-cycle functions. An approach based on information models can provide an integrated view of the product, supporting also product information and knowledge (I&K) reuse acquired in previous development processes. This paper discusses the use of additional information and knowledge models to support the capture and reuse of I&K within a brake system friction material development environment. Two information models are proposed: the Brake Friction Material Product Model, which captures information about a specific product and the Friction Material Design Knowledge Model, which captures design and manufacturing information and knowledge history generated throughout the time. For the representation of the information models object oriented technology is used and Case Based Reasoning is proposed for supporting the I&K retrieving. At the present, work is being performed on the structure definition of the information and knowledge models. A real case in a Brazilian brake lining manufacturer is being used.