Snap-Finger Design Analytics and Its Element Stiffness Matrices

In the automotive industry, thermoplastic snap-fit designs are widely used. For various reasons, the related design analytics have become a subject of special interest. The available references offer a limited scope of effectively using analytical methods. In certain cases, more rigorous assumptions are needed.

Closed form solutions as presented in this paper cover all of the important features constituting the global structure of snap-fingers and deliver exact values of deflections and other results. Other methods like Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or graphical computation could also be adopted to fit certain design environments and professional preferences. Snap-fit designs are occasionally required to meet certain installation efforts, and the necessary evaluation can be done analytically or by using a vector diagram. Getting eigenvalues is occasionally difficult. However, column loads and dynamic responses can be estimated by using the Rayleigh-Ritz method of approximation.

Organizing snap-fit design analytics could have numerous advantages and constitute the vital step toward possible standardization of snap-fit designs.