The deep-drawability of a sheet metal blank is strongly influenced by the tribological conditions prevailing in a deep-drawing process. Therefore, new methods to influence the tribology represent an important research topic. In this work, the application of a process-integrated lubrication in a deep-drawing process is investigated. Most promising geometries of the lubrication channels and outlet openings are first identified by means of numerical simulation at the example of a demonstrator process. Cylindrical test specimens with the specified channel geometries are additively manufactured and installed in a strip drawing test stand. Additive manufacturing enables the possibility of manufacturing complex channel geometries which cannot be manufactured by conventional methods. A hydraulic metering device for conveying lubricant is connected to the cylindrical test specimens. Thus, hydraulically lubricated strip drawing tests are performed. The tests are evaluated according to the force curves and the fluid mechanical buildup of pressure cushion. The performance of process-integrated lubrication is thus analyzed and evaluated. By means of a coupled forming and SPH simulation, the lubrication channels could be optimally designed. From the practical tests, it could be achieved that the drawing force decreases up to 27% with pressure cushion build up. In this research, a hydraulic lubrication in the area of highest contact normal stresses is the most optimal process parameter regarding friction reduction.

The additive manufacturing offers new opportunities for engineering design. Thus, conventional design rules are no longer valid. For the application of the additive manufacturing, relevant constraints have to be taken into account, which result from the process, design, and value chain. To identify the potential of application, a comparison between conventional manufacturing processes and additive manufacturing regarding their advantages and disadvantages is realized. The results are used to evaluate the potential of the technology. Therefore, different demonstrators are analyzed. The investigated products are classified in a matrix, which describes the relation between the lot size and the degree of customization. Thereby, the degree of customization is clustered by a scale, which described six different forms of customization. By the classification of the demonstrators, an area is defined, which described potentially suitable components for additive manufacturing. The final consideration of an example process is based on a machine for brewing tea by using capsules.

Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) systems allow an easy adaption of designed artefacts to new functional or design requirements and automating routine design tasks. In the following article the author wants to focus on the three main concepts of linking CAD and KBE and answer the research questions (1) in which way is integration, embedding and coupling of KBE to a standard CAD system like Autodesk Inventor available and (2) how can the single approaches be compared in terms of modelling effort, user competences and system performance.

Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) is a set of methods and algorithms that extends the approach of parametric modeling and implements design knowledge within CAD models. As such, dimensioning formulas, design rules, and manufacturing restrictions are taken into account to transform the design problem to a configuration problem. We will present the methods and functionalities of the CAD-system Autodesk Inventor Professional (in the out-of-the-box system configuration without extensions like Inventor ETO) after a brief introduction in KEB modeling paradigms. These methods and algorithms include, but not limited to, the link to logical, geometric, topological, and mathematical constraints, design rules in classical if-then-else notation, intelligent templates, and spreadsheet driven design. Hereby different configuration systems are set-up and presented in various application examples.