A geometric method for assembly dimension-chain analysis in digital environment

To solve the analysis of complex assembly dimension-chains efficiently, a new method, dimensional element-chain analysis (DECA), for the assembly dimension-chain analysis is presented based on products' digital models and parameter-driven technique. Firstly, the concepts of dimensional element (DE) and dimensional element-chain (DEC) are defined, and a geometric tolerancing model expressed by DE and its semantic mapping are also given. Secondly, the construction of DEC, the geometric measuring method for the calculation of error transfer coefficients of dimension-chain components and the realization of DECA are proposed. These methods are implemented on the CATIA V5 system, and applied to analyze the assembly dimension-chain of a selected mechanism. The preliminary application shows that the DECA method is valid for assembly dimension-chain analysis.