Concurrent optimization of assembly tolerances for quality with position control using scatter search approach

Tolerance allocation to individual parts in any assembly should be a vital design function with which both the design and manufacturing engineers are concerned. Generally design engineers prefer to have tighter tolerances to ensure the quality of their design, whereas manufacturing engineers prefer loose tolerances for ease of production and the need to be economical. This paper introduces a concurrent tolerance approach, which determines optimal product tolerances and minimizes combined manufacturing and quality related costs in the early stages of design. A non-linear multivariable optimization model is formulated here for assembly. A combinatorial optimization problem by treating cost minimization as the objective function and stack-up conditions as the constraints are solved using scatter search algorithm. In order to further explore the influence of geometric tolerances in quality as well as in the manufacturing cost, position control is included in the model. The results show how position control enhances quality and reduces cost.

[1]  Jonathan Cagan,et al.  Optimal Tolerance Allocation for Improved Productivity , 1992 .

[2]  M. F. Spotts.  Allocation of Tolerances to Minimize Cost of Assembly , 1973 .

[3]  Y. Hong,et al.  Tolerancing algebra: A building block for handling tolerance interactions in design and manufacturing , 2003 .

[4]  S. Kanai,et al.  Optimal Tolerance Synthesis by Genetic Algorithm under the Machining and Assembling Constraints , 1996 .

[5]  C. R. Liu,et al.  Review of dimensioning and tolerancing: representation and processing , 1991, Comput. Aided Des..

[6]  J. N. Siddall,et al.  The Optimization Problem With Optimal Tolerance Assignment and Full Acceptance , 1981 .

[7]  A. Jeang.  An approach of tolerance design for quality improvement and cost reduction , 1997 .

[8]  M. D. Al-Ansary,et al.  Concurrent optimization of design and machining tolerances using the genetic algorithms method , 1997 .

[9]  B K A Ngoi,et al.  Graphical approach to assembly tolerance stack analysis—the ‘Quickie’ GDT method , 1997 .

[10]  Chun Zhang,et al.  Integrated tolerance optimisation with simulated annealing , 1993 .

[11]  J. Huang,et al.  A Method for Optimal Tolerance Selection , 1977 .

[12]  Leo Joskowicz,et al.  Parametric kinematic tolerance analysis of planar mechanisms , 1997, Comput. Aided Des..

[13]  Yuan-Jye Tseng,et al.  Evaluation of alternative tolerance allocations for multiple machining sequences with geometric tolerances , 1999 .

[14]  Satish C. Jain,et al.  Simultaneous optimal selection of design and manufacturing tolerances with different stack-up conditions using genetic algorithms , 2003 .

[15]  L. F. Hauglund,et al.  Least Cost Tolerance Allocation for Mechanical Assemblies with Automated Process Selection , 1990 .

[16]  E. Sandgren,et al.  Tolerance Optimization Using Genetic Algorithms: Benchmarking with Manual Analysis , 1996 .

[17]  Kailash C. Kapur,et al.  Methodology for tolerance design using quality loss function , 1990 .

[18]  Jean-Yves Dantan,et al.  Tolerance synthesis: quantifier notion and virtual boundary , 2005, Comput. Aided Des..

[19]  Filippo A. Salustri,et al.  Simultaneous tolerance synthesis for manufacturing and quality , 2003 .

[20]  F. Glover.  HEURISTICS FOR INTEGER PROGRAMMING USING SURROGATE CONSTRAINTS , 1977 .

[21]  T. C. Woo,et al.  Optimum Selection of Discrete Tolerances , 1989 .

[22]  G. Zhang.  Simultaneous tolerancing for design and manufacturing , 1996 .

[23]  Angus Jeang,et al.  Optimal tolerance design by response surface methodology , 1999 .

[24]  F. Glover.  A Multiphase-Dual Algorithm for the Zero-One Integer Programming Problem , 1965 .

[25]  G. H. Sutherland,et al.  Mechanism Design: Accounting for Manufacturing Tolerances and Costs in Function Generating Problems , 1975 .

[26]  Andrew Kusiak,et al.  Robust Tolerance Design With the Integer Programming Approach , 1997 .

[27]  F. H. Speckhart,et al.  Calculation of Tolerance Based on a Minimum Cost Approach , 1972 .

[28]  César Rego,et al.  A Scatter Search Tutorial for Graph-Based Permutation Problems , 2005 .

[29]  Joshua U. Turner,et al.  Review of statistical approaches to tolerance analysis , 1995, Comput. Aided Des..

[30]  Rikard Söderberg,et al.  Tolerance Allocation Considering Customer and Manufacturing Objectives , 1993 .

[31]  Luc Laperrière,et al.  Monte Carlo simulation of tolerance synthesis equations , 2001 .

[32]  John H. Sheesley,et al.  Quality Engineering in Production Systems , 1988 .

[33]  Angus Jeang.  Economic tolerance design for quality , 1995 .

[34]  Denis Teissandier,et al.  A computer aided tolerancing model: proportioned assembly clearance volume , 1999, Comput. Aided Des..

[35]  Zuomin Dong,et al.  New Production Cost-Tolerance Models for Tolerance Synthesis , 1994 .

[36]  Kenneth W. Chase,et al.  Design Issues in Mechanical Tolerance Analysis , 1998 .