Tolerance Analysis

[rkagrawal]

Hi,

I'm presently working in the area of 3D tolerance analysis of assemblies. I have had exposure to some of the major softwares in this area like 3DCS, CE/TOL and VSA. I would like to know which of these is the best to use with welded assemblies. If any one knows about this, please do provide me some information of where i could find a good comparison between these softwares, and if there any forums specically for this. thank you

 

[Mloew]

rkagrawal ,



You may need to consider the flexibility of the members being joined. Much research has been conducted in this area. The basic principle is similar to springs in series, in that the stiffest component will dominate the variation in the joined structure. It is obviously best studied with FEM.

Here are some technical resources you may find interesting:



An Introduction to Tolerance Analysis of Flexible Assemblies

K. G. Merkley, K. W. Chase, E. Perry

Brigham Young University

Provo, UT

http://www.mscsoftware.com/support/library/conf/wuc96/06b_merk.pdf



Professor S. Jack Hu has authored many publications in this area. A list of these publications can be found at http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~jackhu/publications.html.



I performed a Google search and there are some good links to check out:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...lexible+tolerance+analysis&btnG=Google+Search



Best regards,



Matthew Ian Loew

Luck is the residue of design.

Branch Rickey

 

[rkagrawal]

Hi Mathew,

Thanks a lot for your help. well i have already visited these sites. presently what i'm looking for is some advice on these analysis softwares and which one is compatible with pro/e. If you know anybody working in this area, could you give me their contact info. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Mloew]

rkagrawal,



I don't know directly if anyone is doing this currently. I suppose it is possible to combine CE/Tol or perhaps some user defined analysis BMX functions with a MECHANICA analysis to do flexible body tolerance analysis. I will be attending the PTC/USER conference next month. I will keep a look out there for flexible body tolerance analysis for you.



Good luck!



Best regards,



Matthew