Near optimal design of fixture layouts in multi-station assembly processes

Show full item record

Title: Near optimal design of fixture layouts in multi-station assembly processes
Author: Kim, Pansoo
Abstract: This dissertation presents a methodology for the near optimal design of fixture layouts in multi-station assembly processes. An optimal fixture layout improves the robustness of a fixture system, reduces product variability and leads to manufacturing cost reduction. Three key aspects of the multi-station fixture layout design are addressed: a multi-station variation propagation model, a quantitative measure of fixture design, and an effective and efficient optimization algorithm. Multi-station design may have high dimensions of design space, which can contain a lot of local optima. In this dissertation, I investigated two algorithms for optimal fixture layout designs. The first algorithm is an exchange algorithm, which was originally developed in the research of optimal experimental designs. I revised the exchange routine so that it can remarkably reduce the computing time without sacrificing the optimal values. The second algorithm uses data-mining methods such as clustering and classification. It appears that the data-mining method can find valuable design selection rules that can in turn help to locate the optimal design efficiently. Compared with other non-linear optimization algorithms such as the simplex search method, simulated annealing, genetic algorithm, the data-mining method performs the best and the revised exchange algorithm performs comparably to simulated annealing, but better than the others. A four-station assembly process for a sport utility vehicle (SUV) side frame is used throughout the dissertation to illustrate the relevant concepts and the resulting methodology.
Publisher: Texas A&M University
Subject: Fixture Layout Design
Data-mining Method
Revised Exchange Algorithm
E-optimality
URI: http://handle.tamu.edu/1969.1/1076
Date: 2004-08

Files in this item

Files Size Format View
etd-tamu-2004B-INEN-Kim-2.pdf 892.3Kb application/pdf View/Open

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show full item record