Title: Concurrent tolerance allocation for quality with form control using Genetic Algorithm

Authors: R. Ramesh, J. Jerald

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Sastra University, Thanjavur 613 402, Tamil Nadu, India. ' Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620 015, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: Finding an optimal tolerance for components in an assembly is a vital design function, so that, the products manufactured will have high quality with affordable cost. To get an optimal tolerance value, this paper introduces a new procedure, to allocate tolerances concurrently for both design and manufacturing. To reduce the cost on quality loss, cylindricity, a form control of the geometric tolerance is included. A non-linear multivariable optimisation model formulated by this way is tested for various stack-up conditions on a simple mechanical assembly using genetic algorithm. The results show how form control improves quality and reduces cost. [Received 10 September 2008; Revised 8 December 2008; Accepted 18 April 2009]

Keywords: tolerance allocation; cost; stack-up conditions; quality loss; cylindricity; form control; GAs; genetic algorithms; geometric tolerances; optimisation; modelling; quality improvement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMR.2009.028540

International Journal of Manufacturing Research, 2009 Vol.4 No.4, pp.439 - 457

Published online: 18 Sep 2009 *

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