Minimizing assembly variation in selective assembly for auto-body parts based on IGAOT

PurposeDimensional quality of sheet metal assemblies is an important factor for the final product. However, the part tolerance is not easily controlled because of the spring back deformation during the stamping process. Selective assembly is a means to decrease assembly tolerance of the assembly from low-precision components. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a fully efficient method of selective assembly optimization based on an improved genetic algorithm for optimization toolbox (IGAOT) in MATLAB.Design/methodology/approachThe method of influence coefficient is first applied to calculate the assembly variation of sheet metal components since the traditional rigid assembly variation model cannot be used due to welding deformation. Afterwards, the IGAOT is proposed to generate optimal selective groups, which consists of advantages of genetic algorithm for optimization toolbox (GAOT) and simulated annealing.FindingsThe cases of two simple planes and the tail lamp bracket assembly are used to illustrate the flowchart of optimizing combinations of selective groups. These cases prove that the proposed IGAOT has better precision than that of GAOT with the same parameters for selective assembly.Originality/valueThe research objective of this paper is to evaluate the changes from rigid bodies to sheet metal parts which are very complex for selective assembly. The method of IGAOT was proposed to the selected groups which has better precision than that of current optimization algorithms.