BenDFM: A taxonomy and synthetic CAD dataset for manufacturability assessment in sheet metal bending

Abstract

Predicting the manufacturability of CAD designs early, in terms of both feasibility and required effort, is a key goal of Design for Manufacturing (DFM). Despite advances in deep learning for CAD and its widespread use in manufacturing process selection, learning-based approaches for predicting manufacturability within a specific process remain limited. Two key challenges limit progress: inconsistency across prior work in how manufacturability is defined and consequently in the associated learning targets, and a scarcity of suitable datasets. Existing labels vary significantly: they may reflect intrinsic design constraints or depend on specific manufacturing capabilities (such as available tools), and they range from discrete feasibility checks to continuous complexity measures. Furthermore, industrial datasets typically contain only manufacturable parts, offering little signal for infeasible cases, while existing synthetic datasets focus on simple geometries and subtractive processes. To address these gaps, we propose a taxonomy of manufacturability metrics along the axes of configuration dependence and measurement type, allowing clearer scoping of generalizability and learning objectives. Next, we introduce BenDFM, the first synthetic dataset for manufacturability assessment in sheet metal bending. BenDFM contains 20,000 parts, both manufacturable and unmanufacturable, generated with process-aware bending simulations, providing both folded and unfolded geometries and multiple manufacturability labels across the taxonomy, enabling systematic study of previously unexplored learning-based DFM challenges. We benchmark two state-of-the-art 3D learning architectures on BenDFM, showing that graph-based representations that capture relationships between part surfaces achieve better accuracy, and that predicting metrics that depend on specific manufacturing setups remains more challenging.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: Proposed taxonomy for manufacturability metrics. Each quadrant represents a distinct class of manufacturability evaluation relevant for data-driven DFM.
• Figure 2: Core steps of the bend creation process.
• Figure 3: Bend reliefs, flange types, and symmetry bias enhance the realism and variability of generated designs.
• Figure 4: Punch and die geometries are built around the bend center using bend parameters and simple trigonometry.
• Figure 5: (a) As the bend progresses, a greater portion of the bend allowance is incorporated into the bend itself (red), while the remainder is distributed as flat flanges (green) on either side. (b) Punch and die tools are dynamically positioned relative to the evolving part geometry throughout the bend trajectory, shown here for $0^\circ$, $45^\circ$, and $90^\circ$ angles.