A Web-Based Design Tool for Snap-Fit Features

Abstract

This paper describes an interactive web-based design tool, developed by using a web-based server application, for the three most common snap-fit features that are the cantilever hook, post & dome and bayonet & finger. Response surface equations that predict each snap-fit feature’s performance were applied in this web-based design tool. This web-based design tool also applied constraint management (CM), which helps the designers switch the input and output on the fly and prevent over-constraint. Two other constraint management modules were applied. The first one is sensitivity analysis module used to determine the input’s dependency to a specified output also applied in the design tool. The second one is correction advisor module used to see how much each dependent input’s value should change if one output changes to a new value. Two optimization modules, single-objective optimization and multiple-objective optimization, are applied to optimize the performance of snap-fit features. Finally a real design case for cantilever hook was conducted and the results were compared to experiment results.