Structural precision control with manufacturability-performance balancing for metallic thin-walled ring

Abstract

The structural dimensions of thin-walled components with irregular cross-sectional geometries have a significant impact on their service performances. The interaction of deviations across multi-dimensions during manufacturing introduces substantial challenges in achieving precise performance control. To ensure the superiority and stability of the rebound performance of metallic seal rings, this study presented a structural precision control method to harmonize the manufacturability, performances and manufacturing cost for complex components with multiple structures. Using the multi-structured metallic seal rings as application case, the influence of structural variables on rebound performance was analyzed and four factors were identified as significant factors. With the response surface method, a quantitative relationship between significant factors and rebound rate was established. Considering the structural manufacturability, high performance and cost, a structural group was selected for precision control. Introducing deviation variables to the quantitative function of rebound rate, the boundary constraints of the tolerance intervals were solved under performance goal and manufacturability accounting for multi-stage fabrication. With objective functions, the optimal tolerance intervals were iteratively calculated through a genetic algorithm. Experimental results demonstrated that all the rebound rates exceeded 95% with the dimensional precision in the constraint intervals. Furthermore, the developed rebound rate prediction model exhibits high accuracy, with a maximum error below 5%. With the service performance and cost assured, through the application of the strategic dimensional reconciliation of manufacturing tolerance control framework, the complexities in maintaining structural precision across the various stages of fabricating components with intricate geometries have been substantially reduced.