Abstract
Manual computation of tolerance charts is both tedious and time-consuming. This paper presents an efficient method of automatically determining the working dimensions and their balanced tolerances. With this method, the feasibility of different process plans can be evaluated efficiently and economically. A unique algorithm, based on a special path tracing technique, is developed to reduce the unknown working dimensions to a system of linear equations. The Gauss elimination technique is then employed to solve for the working dimensions. The tolerance balancing process is accomplished using a separate mathematical model. The complete system, comprising the tolerance charting and optimization modules, is finally tested on an example.