INTEGRATION OF CAD/CAM SYSTEMS WITH STEP FOR LASER MATERIAL PROCESSING

M. Geiger(1), A. Kach(2)

(1)University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany;
(2)Bavarian Laser Centre, Germany

The international standard STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data) is the essential basis for international data exchange and storage of engineering data. This product data technology was developed because of problems with existing data formats concerning both data contents and implementation of matching CAx interfaces. As it offers many self-contained product models (application protocols) for several application fields, it can be seen that STEP is primarily intended to be used as replacement for all neutral data formats. Conse-quently, the industry, mainly the automotive industry, is very interested in using STEP for integrating their CAx systems.

This paper deals with the integration of CAD/CAM systems for laser material proc-essing by using STEP. Therefore, the necessary product model for laser material processing and associated CAx systems are established and mapped into the existing application protocol AP214 (Core Data for Automotive Design Processes). Due to this, the mapping is a kind of adaptation of suitable APs to the concrete application demands, so the reproduction potential of the AP214 for laser material process can be shown. Furthermore, the general integration method with STEP and an architecture for STEP interfaces is presented.

Keywords: Integration, Product Data Technology, STEP, AP214