Abstract: Product modeling is one of the key factors influencing industrial completeness, including part modeling and assembly modeling in the mainstream computer-aided design (CAD) systems. However, when creating a part solid model at part modeling stage, the information of how it will interface with other parts assembly design intent (ADI), which is known by the designer, is not stored in the part model. As a result, the ADI has to be implemented again at assembly modeling stage, through numerous tedious and error-prone operations such as picking up geometry elements and inputting constraint commands. To alleviate these problems, firstly, the transmission process of the ADI in product modeling is systematically analyzed, revealing the principle of ADI modeling. Then, a previously developed concept of assembly feature pair (AFP) is used to model the abstract ADI (consisted of mating structure and mating behavior) merely known by the designer. Finally, the paradigm of transmitting ADI in product modeling and assembly process simulation based on AFP is demonstrated, and a gear bump sample is analyzed to validate the feasibility of modeling ADI and integrating the two stages through AFP, indicating that the proposed method may have the potential to make the ransmission of ADI in a consistent and simple way, and further to enrich and facilitate the development of CAD modeling theory and technology systems.

Key words: assembly design intent, assembly feature pair, computer-aided design, mating behavior, mating structure