Functional and product specification by Gauge with Internal Mobilities (G.I.M.)

Abstract

With the systematic use of computers at all steps of product life cycle, especially at the level of design and manufacturing, a coherent model of product functional geometry is required. In this paper, we propose a model making it possible to build a virtual gauge with internal mobilities, and to specify a part, a mechanism or a manufacturing process.

The approach by gauge with internal mobilities establishes the domain of functionally acceptable variations of the non-ideal geometry, starting from three concepts:

• the interface gauge/part defining the relative position between the ideal features of the gauge and the non ideal features of the part

• the gauge structure modeling the environment of the part, the environment is the parts influencing on the functional requirement

• the functional characterization optimizing the geometrical characteristic related to the function.