CAD/CAM Database Management System Requirements For Mechanical Parts Reference Whelan, Peter Timothy (1989) Doctoral Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Abstract As the integration of computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems progresses, the need for management of the resulting data becomes critical. Database management systems (DBMS) have been developed to assist with this task, but currently do not satisfy all of the needs of CAD/CAM data. This thesis examines and proposes DBMS requirements for design and manufacturing data associated with mechanical parts. A case study approach was used, involving examples of parts produced by numerically controlled (NC) milling and sheet metal punching machines. Representative examples of currently available relational and object oriented DBMS's were used to construct prototype CAD/CAM databases. Insights concerning the application of relational and object oriented DBMS's to CAD/CAM data were gained. The advantages and deficiencies of each were examined and discussed. The prototypes and resulting discussions provided a basis for the development of the proposed DBMS requirements. Manuscript: order via UMI