Body-in-White Weight Reduction via Probabilistic Modeling of Manufacturing Variations

A design is robust when it is not sensitive to variations in noise parameters such as manufacturing tolerances, material properties, environmental temperature, humidity, etc. In recent years several robust design concepts have been introduced in an effort to obtain optimum designs and minimize the variation in the product characteristics [1,2]. In this study, a probabilistic design analysis was performed in order to develop a robust design with the mean value of the resulting stress at target, and minimum standard deviation. The methodology for implementing robust design used in this research effort is summarized in a reusable workflow diagram.