Synthesis of Geometric Tolerances of a Gearbox Using a Deviation-Based Tolerance Synthesis Scheme

In this paper a step-by-step procedure for carrying out synthesis of geometric tolerances of a planetary gearbox using a deviation-based tolerance synthesis (TS) scheme has been presented. The TS scheme uses an optimization for minimizing total cost of manufacturing, subject to constraints for assemblability of parts and constraints for functional requirements. The TS work is carried out in several stages. First the gearbox with its nominal dimensions is converted into a model that could serve as input to the synthesis module. Cost functions and constraints equations are then generated using deviation parameters of features. The optimization is carried out using these equations in standard non-linear minimization tools (Matlab) and the optimal deviation parameters are subsequently mapped into suitable tolerance specifications or tolerance zones as per ANSI Y14.5 tolerancing standards.