Including measures of assembly complexity in proactive geometry assurance, a case study

Geometry assurance is an important part of quality assurance in the manufacturing industry. Typically virtual geometry assurance is done in Computer Aided Tolerancing (CAT) tools. Earlier research shows that assembly complexity influences the product quality but is not considered in CAT simulations. Recently a new robustness value in CAT has been introduced that not only considers sensitivity to variation but also the complexity of the assembly. This study tests this in two industrial case studies. The case studies show good conformance between actual results and simulated results verifying that assembly complexity influences geometrical quality and the benefits of including it in early geometry assurance activities. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.