Integrated Tolerance and Fixture Layout Design for Compliant Sheet Metal Assemblies

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2021

Part tolerances and fixture layouts are two pivotal factors in the geometrical quality of
a compliant assembly. The independent design and optimization of these factors for compliant
assemblies have been thoroughly studied. However, this paper presents the dependency of these
factors and, consequently, the demand for an integrated design of them. A method is developed
in order to address this issue by utilizing compliant variation simulation tools and evolutionary
optimization algorithms. Thereby, integrated and non-integrated optimization of the tolerances and
fixture layouts are conducted for an industrial sample case. The objective of this optimization is
defined as minimizing the production cost while fulfilling the geometrical requirements. The results
evidence the superiority of the integrated approach to the non-integrated in terms of the production
cost and geometrical quality of the assemblies.