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Description
Dimensional Metrology is the branch of science that determines length, angular, and geometric relationships within manufactured parts and compares them with required tolerances. The measurements can be made using either manual methods or sampled coordinate metrology (Coordinate measuring machines). Manual measurement methods have been in practice for a long time

Dimensional Metrology is the branch of science that determines length, angular, and geometric relationships within manufactured parts and compares them with required tolerances. The measurements can be made using either manual methods or sampled coordinate metrology (Coordinate measuring machines). Manual measurement methods have been in practice for a long time and are well accepted in the industry, but are slow for the present day manufacturing. On the other hand CMMs are relatively fast, but these methods are not well established yet. The major problem that needs to be addressed is the type of feature fitting algorithm used for evaluating tolerances. In a CMM the use of different feature fitting algorithms on a feature gives different values, and there is no standard that describes the type of feature fitting algorithm to be used for a specific tolerance. Our research is focused on identifying the feature fitting algorithm that is best used for each type of tolerance. Each algorithm is identified as the one to best represent the interpretation of geometric control as defined by the ASME Y14.5 standard and on the manual methods used for the measurement of a specific tolerance type. Using these algorithms normative procedures for CMMs are proposed for verifying tolerances. The proposed normative procedures are implemented as software. Then the procedures are verified by comparing the results from software with that of manual measurements.

To aid this research a library of feature fitting algorithms is developed in parallel. The library consists of least squares, Chebyshev and one sided fits applied on the features of line, plane, circle and cylinder. The proposed normative procedures are useful for evaluating tolerances in CMMs. The results evaluated will be in accordance to the standard. The ambiguity in choosing the algorithms is prevented. The software developed can be used in quality control for inspection purposes.
ContributorsVemulapalli, Prabath (Author) / Shah, Jami J. (Thesis advisor) / Davidson, Joseph K. (Committee member) / Takahashi, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
There is very little in the way of prescriptive procedures to guide designers in tolerance specification. This shortcoming motivated the group at Design Automation Lab to automate tolerancing of mechanical assemblies. GD&T data generated by the Auto-Tolerancing software is semantically represented using a neutral Constraint Tolerance Feature (CTF) graph file

There is very little in the way of prescriptive procedures to guide designers in tolerance specification. This shortcoming motivated the group at Design Automation Lab to automate tolerancing of mechanical assemblies. GD&T data generated by the Auto-Tolerancing software is semantically represented using a neutral Constraint Tolerance Feature (CTF) graph file format that is consistent with the ASME Y14.5 standard and the ISO STEP Part 21 file. The primary objective of this research is to communicate GD&T information from the CTF file to a neutral machine readable format. The latest STEP AP 242 (ISO 10303-242) “Managed model based 3D engineering“ aims to support smart manufacturing by capturing semantic Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) within the 3D model and also helping with long-term archiving of the product information. In line with the recommended practices published by CAx Implementor Forum, this research discusses the implementation of CTF to AP 242 translator. The input geometry available in STEP AP 203 format is pre-processed using STEP-NC DLL and 3D InterOp. While the former is initially used to attach persistent IDs to the topological entities in STEP, the latter retains the IDs during translation to ACIS entities for consumption by other modules in the Auto-tolerancing module. The associativity of GD&T available in CTF file to the input geometry is through persistent IDs. C++ libraries used for the translation to STEP AP 242 is provided by StepTools Inc through the STEP-NC DLL. Finally, the output STEP file is tested using available AP 242 readers and shows full conformance with the STEP standard. Using the output AP 242 file, semantic GDT data can now be automatically consumed by downstream applications such as Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP), Computer Aided Inspection (CAI), Computer Aided Tolerance Systems (CATS) and Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM).
ContributorsVenkiteswaran, Adarsh (Author) / Shah, Jami J. (Thesis advisor) / Hardwick, Martin (Committee member) / Davidson, Joseph K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
Metal castings are selectively machined-based on dimensional control requirements. To ensure that all the finished surfaces are fully machined, each as-cast part needs to be measured and then adjusted optimally in its fixture. The topics of this thesis address two parts of this process: data translations and feature-fitting clouds of

Metal castings are selectively machined-based on dimensional control requirements. To ensure that all the finished surfaces are fully machined, each as-cast part needs to be measured and then adjusted optimally in its fixture. The topics of this thesis address two parts of this process: data translations and feature-fitting clouds of points measured on each cast part. For the first, a CAD model of the finished part is required to be communicated to the machine shop for performing various machining operations on the metal casting. The data flow must include GD&T specifications along with other special notes that may be required to communicate to the machinist. Current data exchange, among various digital applications, is limited to translation of only CAD geometry via STEP AP203. Therefore, an algorithm is developed in order to read, store and translate the data from a CAD file (for example SolidWorks, CREO) to a standard and machine readable format (ACIS format - *.sat). Second, the geometry of cast parts varies from piece to piece and hence fixture set-up parameters for each part must be adjusted individually. To predictively determine these adjustments, the datum surfaces, and to-be-machined surfaces are scanned individually and the point clouds reduced to feature fits. The scanned data are stored as separate point cloud files. The labels associated with the datum and to-be-machined (TBM) features are extracted from the *.sat file. These labels are further matched with the file name of the point cloud data to identify data for the respective features. The point cloud data and the CAD model are then used to fit the appropriate features (features at maximum material condition (MMC) for datums and features at least material condition (LMC) for TBM features) using the existing normative feature fitting (nFF) algorithm. Once the feature fitting is complete, a global datum reference frame (GDRF) is constructed based on the locating method that will be used to machine the part. The locating method is extracted from a fixture library that specifies the type of fixturing used to machine the part. All entities are transformed from its local coordinate system into the GDRF. The nominal geometry, fitted features, and the GD&T information are then stored in a neutral file format called the Constraint Tolerance Feature (CTF) Graph. The final outputs are then used to identify the locations of the critical features on each part and these are used to establish the adjustments for its setup prior to machining, in another module, not part of this thesis.
ContributorsRamnath, Satchit (Author) / Shah, Jami J. (Thesis advisor) / Davidson, Joseph (Committee member) / Hansford, Dianne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016