Computer-Aided Fixture Design Verification: Part II — Tolerance Analysis

Abstract

Tolerance analysis is the most important issue in computer-aided fixture design (CAFD) since the primary task of fixturing is to ensure the quality of machining, and it is an important part in computer-aided fixture design verification (CAFDV). This study presents a new approach for fixture tolerance analysis that is more generalized and can be used to assign locator tolerances based on machining surface tolerance requirements. The tolerance analysis is also generalized to handle any type of fixture designs, workpieces, datum features, and machining feature tolerances. Locator tolerance assignment distributes tolerances to locators based on a sensitivity analysis.