Title: Minimising assembly loss for a complex assembly using Taguchi's concept in selective assembly

Authors: J. Rajesh Babu; A. Asha

Addresses: Department of Automobile Engineering, K.L.N. College of Engineering, Pottapalayam – 630 611, Sivagangai District, TamilNadu, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology, Virudhunagar – 626 001, TamilNadu, India

Abstract: The component tolerance and assembly variation determines the quality of any product. For producing high precision product it requires high accuracy operations both in machining and assembly. Advanced machining process can be used to produce high precision product but it will increase the manufacturing cost as well as cost of the product. In such cases, selective assembly provides an effective way for producing high precision product from relatively low precision components. According to Taguchi's concept, manufacturing a product within the specification may not be sufficient and it must be manufactured to the target dimension. In this article, artificial immune system (AIS) algorithm is developed to obtain the best combination of selective group with minimum clearance variation and least assembly loss value within the specification range. The concept of Taguchi's loss function is applied into the selective assembly method to evaluate the deviation from the mean.

Keywords: selective assembly; Taguchi methods; loss function; assembly clearance specification; average assembly loss per combination; artificial immune system; AIS algorithm; complex assembly.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2015.068473

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2015 Vol.15 No.3, pp.335 - 356

Published online: 18 Apr 2015 *

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