Research on and Application of Feature Recognition and Intelligent Retrieval Method for Multi-Component Alloy Powder Injection Molding Gear Based on Partition Templates

The forming process of multi-alloy gears by metal powder injection molding is tedious, and the current design process mainly depends on the experience of designers, which seriously affects the product development cycle and forming quality. In order to solve the problem of the gear feature expression being missing, which hinders the automatic retrieval of similar parts in the analogical design process, a feature recognition and intelligent retrieval method for a multi-alloy powder injection molding gear based on partition templates is proposed in this paper. The partition templates of the gear are defined, and gear digitization is completed by using the automatic recognition algorithm. Searching for similar gear parts in the knowledge base, designers can analogically design the forming process for new parts according to the mature process of the parts in the knowledge base. The automatic identification and intelligent retrieval system developed according to this method has been implemented in two MIM (metal injection molding) product manufacturing enterprises. Case studies and industrial applications have proved the effectiveness of the system, the efficiency of identification and retrieval has been improved by more than 97%, and the number of mold tests has been reduced by 60%.