| VITAL | This project is closed |
| Visualisation of the Impact of Tolerance Allocation |
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Context To compete successfully in global markets, vehicle manufacturers must bring new designs to market more quickly. Designs must be validated without the need for physical models. In particular the effect of tolerances in manufactured parts and the effect of different assembly sequences must be checked as early as possible in the design process. Existing CAD and VR packages use a polygonal representation of parts as an approximate representation of nominal geometry with no support for tolerancing, or the capability to display the effects of tolerances on the vehicle appearance There is a need to create better links between tools used for design and those for tolerance analysis. Aims To research the problems of building and visualising virtual models that allow an analysis of tolerancing, and exchange of data between design and tolerancing packages. To build a series of demonstrators and develop the business case for use of these packages in industry. To assess the impact of the technology on the business processes that follow styling Method The requirements for visualising the effects of dimensional variation of individual components on the quality of the final assembly in terms of gap profile, flushness and clash will be established. Mathematical representations of component tolerances and assembly variation will be developed An interactive virtual prototyping environment will be built and evaluated for its effectiveness in identifying potential quality problems. Solutions to the problems of physical remoteness of some members of the design team will be identified. Benefits The project will increase the productivity of the design process through virtual prototyping and simulation of assemblies during the conceptual design stage. Participants SGI Leeds University Strathclyde University Magna Interiors |
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