This volume contains the selected manuscripts of the papers presented at the Second IDMME Conference on "Integrated Design and Manufacturing in Mechanical Engineering," held in Compiegne, France, at the University of Technology of Compiegne, May 27-29, 1998. The purpose of the Conference was to present and discuss topics dealing with the optimization of product design and manufacturing processes with particular attention to (1) the analysis and optimum design of mechanical parts and mechanisms (2) the modeling of forming processes (3) the development of computer aided manufacturing tools (4) the methodological aspects of integrated design and manufacturing in adapted technical and human environments. The initiative of the conference and the organization thereof is mainly due to the efforts of the french PRIMECA group (Pool of Computer ResoUfces for Mechanics). The international Institution for Production Engineering Research (C.I.R.P.) was helpful to attract international participants. The conference brought together three hundred and twenty worldwide participants.

This book is devoted to the optimization of product design and manufacturing. It contains selected and carefully composed articles based on presentations given at the IDMME conference, held in CompiA]gne University of Technology, France, in 1998. The authors are all involved in cutting-edge research in their respective fields of specialization. The integration of manufacturing constraints and their optimization in the design process is becoming more and more widespread in the development of mechanical products or systems. There is a clear industrial need for these kinds of methodologies. Important - but still unsolved - problems are related to the definition of design processes, the choice of optimal manufacturing processes, and their integration through coherent methodologies in adapted environments. The main topics addressed in this book are: analysis and optimization of mechanical parts and products (computational structural mechanics, optimum design of structures, finite element solvers, computer-aided geometry, modeling and synthesis of mechanisms); analysis and optimization for fabrication and manufacturing systems (modeling of forming processes, modeling for control and measurement, tolerancing and assembly in manufacturing, off-line programming and optimal parameters for machining, robotics, welding); methodological aspects of integrated design and manufacturing (new methodologies for design with constraints, communication tools, training applications, computer-aided manufacturing). Apart from giving a thorough theoretical background, a very important theme is the relation between research and industrial applications. The book is of interest for engineers, researchers and PhDstudents who are involved in the optimization of design and manufacturing processes.