Generating a skin-based meta-model for compliant parts in composite material: numerical and experimental results

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a skin-based approach able to generate the variability model for a component in composite material due to its manufacturing process. It generates a skin-based model of the manufactured part. The skin model discretizes the part surfaces by points to take into account the geometric deviations, those points are the nodes of finite element analysis used for tolerance analysis of compliant assemblies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a general and systematic simulation model for generating a variability meta-model for a component in composite material due to its manufacturing process. The model is constituted by three steps: definition and pre-processing of the nominal model, generation of the manufacturing process model and evaluation of the part variability. Findings: The advantage of this approach is related to the fact that it is designed as a part of a digital process that establishes a continuous and unambiguous flow of variation information from the part design to manufacturing and assembly and that takes into account the manufacturing signature. This is its uniqueness compared to other simulation approaches focused only on manufacturing. Research limitations/implications: Considering the variability around the nominal value of all the process parameters and parts with more complex geometries are not taken into account now, which will be modelled in practical applications. Practical implications: To properly manage uncertainty since conceptual design of complex product, next generation geometry assurance requires simulation models to realistically consider process signatures due to the manufacturing process. This work focusses on this next generation tool for geometry assurance. Originality/value: The literature is focused on metal sheets joined by welding or riveting. There are other materials widely used and typically compliant: the composite materials that typically used mechanical fixing elements (bolting, riveting) and structural adhesives to joint parts. No software tools exist in the literature to deal with uncertainty from manufacturing to assembly processes in products made by composite. This is the reason of the present work.