New methods for tolerance analysis in solid modeling

Results are presented of research at IBM into the use of solid modeling technology for the automated solutions of tolerating problems. This work focuses on the tolerance analysis problem, and presents several methods for the automated solution of three-dimensional tolerance analysis problems, using solid modeling technology. A Monte Carlo method is presented for both worst-case and statistical tolerance analysis. Linear programming and sequential linear programming methods are presented for worst-case tolerance analysis. Example problems are solved using the experimental GEOTOL solid modeling system