EXPERT SYSTEM FOR JOINING COMPOSITE MATERIALS

THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION ABOUT JOINING COMPOSITE MATERIALS IS LARGE AND POORLY STANDARDIZED, MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR THE MATERIALS ENGINEERING TO MAKE OPTIMUM DESIGN DECISIONS. A COMPUTERIZED COMPOSITE JOINING INFORMATION SYSTEM IS NEEDED TO HELP THE DESIGN ENGINEER SYNTHESIZE THE AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE IN A USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE WAY. ONE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMBINED EXPERT AND DATABASE SYSTEM OF COMPOSITE JOINING INFORMATION. SUCH A SYSTEM WILL HELP THE ENGINEER BY SCREENING THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION FOR WHAT IS OPTIMALLY APPLICABLE TO A PARTICULAR JOINING SITUATION OR QUESTION. IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A COMPLETE SYSTEM, A PROTOTYPE EXPERT SYSTEM FOR COMPOSITE JOINING PROCEDURES WILL BE DEVELOPED. THIS EXPERT SYSTEM WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH AN EXISTING PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC) DATABASE SYSTEM OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS, ADHESIVES, PROCEDURES AND COMPUTER-AIDED-DESIGN (CAD) DRAWINGS.