A method of visualising the 3D dimensional variation behaviour of kinematic systems

At present, the output from the dimensional variation of an assembly is often in the form of a statistical process control chart or histogram. Such output, while informative, is not particularly suited to the evaluation of dimensional variation behaviour in complex kinematic assembly systems. This paper presents a graphical method of visualising the 3D dimensional variation behaviour of any chosen point feature in a kinematic assembly system by the use of 3D bounding surfaces. The bounding surfaces describe a volume such that there is a known probability that the chosen point is contained within the volume. The bounding surfaces and the volume they describe visualise the dimensional variation behaviour of the chosen point feature as it traverses one or more of the kinematic assembly system's movement ranges. This paper demonstrates that the visualisation allows the dimensional variation behaviour of the chosen point to be presented in a compact and readily comprehensible manner that enables evaluation of the analysis output within the context of the original simulation model geometry. An example of the method applied to a simple kinematic system is also shown.