Tolerance Plugin Module in Integrated Design

Increased use of recycled material in high-end structural components based on wrought alloys is the goal of the EC project Suplight. The project proposes a framework for multi objective optimization. In this paper, a tolerance plugin module used in this project is described. The tolerance plugin module aims at controlling if the geometrical variation requirements on part level are fulfilled. The variation in the part stems from variation in material and process parameters and the relationship between variation in process and material parameters is estimated using designed computer experiments. Moreover, the tolerance plugin module offers an automatically generated meta-model, based on principal component analysis, for handling part variation that allows for faster Monte Carlo simulations and a format that can be used in variation simulations in succeeding assembly steps. The functionality is illustrated using two cases studies; one for investigation of geometrical part variation due to a stamping process and one for investigation of geometrical part variation due to a sheet metal forming process.