Tolerance chart optimization

A tolerance chart is a graphical representation of a process plan and a manual procedure for controlling tolerance stackup when the machining of a component involves interdependent tolerance chains. This heuristic, experience-based method of allocating tolerances to individual cuts of a process plan can be embodied in a computer-based module. This paper introduces a graph theoretic representation for the tolerance chart. A special path tracing algorithm is used to identify tolerance chains from this graph. Optimal tolerance allocation among individual cuts is achieved using a linear goal programming model instead of existing heuristic methods. A more comprehensive mixed integer programming model is developed to incorporate linear tolerance cost functions and alternative process selection.