Quality- and cost-driven assembly technique selection and geometrical tolerance allocation for mechanical structure assembly

• Assembly technique selection is barely never addressed in assembly process planning.
• A method to select assembly techniques is proposed in this paper.
• The assembly technique selection is coupled with geometrical tolerance allocation.
• This problem is addressed thanks to a multi-objective optimization.
• The two objectives considered are the quality of the product and the assembly cost.

The assembly process planning has been the subject of extensive scientific work, mainly due to the multiple aspects involved from geometrical matters to operational research concerns. However, very few issues about assembly technique selection are addressed. The aim of this paper is to propose a method to select an assembly technique for each joint of a product and to allocate geometrical tolerances accordingly. This is achieved by solving a multi-objective optimization problem to minimize the cost and the non-conformity associated with the assembly plan. The potential benefits of the method are illustrated on a case study representing the assembly of a simple mechanical structure.