Simulation and analysis of assembly processes considering compliant, non-ideal parts and tooling variations

Variations in parts and tooling are a major problem in automobile body assembly processes. Those discrepancies adversely affect body assembly quality, functionality, cost and time-to-market. Variation simulation analysis has been used in the design stage to predict such uncertainties, but variation analysis based on rigid body assumptions usually yields over-estimates of the assembly variations. This paper presents a new numerical simulation method for the assembly process incorporating compliant non-ideal parts. This method considers the interaction and interference between compliant parts due to part variation, assembly tooling variation, welding distortion, and spring back effects. A butt-to-butt joint assembly example is used to illustrate the effects of various variation causes. A three-parts assembly example examines the assembly and welding sequences. Results from these two examples demonstrate that the proposed method is theoretically sound and practically useful. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.