A tolerance analysis method based on assembly deformation simulation with stable contact
Robotic Intelligence and Automation
ISSN: 2754-6969
Article publication date: 25 December 2023
Issue publication date: 29 March 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The assembly simulation in tolerance analysis is one of the most important steps for the tolerance design of mechanical products. However, most assembly simulation methods are based on the rigid body assumption, and those assembly simulation methods considering deformation have a poor efficiency. This paper aims to propose a novel efficient and precise tolerance analysis method based on stable contact to improve the efficiency and reliability of assembly deformation simulation.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed method comprehensively considers the initial rigid assembly state, the assembly deformation and the stability examination of assembly simulation to improve the reliability of tolerance analysis results. The assembly deformation of mating surfaces was first calculated based on the boundary element method with optimal initial assembly state, then the stability of assembly simulation results was assessed by the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise algorithm to improve the reliability of tolerance analysis. Finally, combining the small displacement torsor theory, the tolerance scheme was statistically analyzed based on sufficient samples.
Findings
A case study of a guide rail model demonstrated the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method.
Research limitations/implications
The present study only considered the form error when generating the skin model shape, and the waviness and the roughness of the matching surface were not considered.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the proposed method is original in the assembly simulation considering stable contact, which can effectively ensure the reliability of the assembly simulation while taking into account the computational efficiency.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Availability of figures, tables and appendix: The figures, tables and appendix used in this article have been licensed.
This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant Nos. 52105279, U22A6001, 52075480) and the Ningbo Natural Science Foundation (No. 2021J163).
Citation
Sa, G., Bai, H., Liu, Z., Liu, X. and Tan, J. (2024), "A tolerance analysis method based on assembly deformation simulation with stable contact", Robotic Intelligence and Automation, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/RIA-08-2022-0204
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited