Dimensional variation simulation is a computer aided engineering (CAE) method that analyzes the statistical efforts of the component variation to the quality of the final assembly. The traditional tolerance analysis method and commercial CAE software are often based on the assumptions of the rigid part assembly. However, the vehicle functional attributes, such as, ride and handling, NVH, durability and reliability, require understanding the assembly quality under various dynamic conditions while achieving vehicle dimensional clearance targets.
This paper presents the methods in evaluating and analyzing the impacts of the assembly variations for the vehicle dynamic performance. Basic linear tolerance stack method and advanced study that applies various CAE tools for the virtual quality analysis in the product and process design will be discussed.
