A Meta-model based Approach to Implement Variation Simulation for Sheet Metal Parts using Mesh Morphing Method

The virtual process chain is an essential step for the sustainable digital transformation in the manufacturing industry. For the Body-In-White (BIW) sheet metal parts, the manufacturing joining simulation based on finite element method is used to simulate the joining processes in the body shop. The target is to predict the dimensional accuracy of assemblies after using different types of joining technologies. However, the assembly deviation is not only affected by the joining operations, but also by the initial part deviations. Therefore, an integration of geometrical variations in the joining simulation model is necessary to improve the prediction accuracy.