Quality assurance model in mechanical assembly

The uncertainty of mechanical assembly process usually brings great challenge to product quality control and assurance. The systematic approach should be employed in the research to find a comprehensive solution. The quality assurance model for assembly (QAMA), based on the analysis of the major problems in the mechanical assembly process and the factors that affect the quality of products, is established by means of three working models: the assembly process model (APM), the activity control model (ACM), and the quality data model (QDM). The APM formulates the assembly process starting with the analysis of process flow, logical scheme, and key factors. The ACM is built by defining the attributes of control activity, mapping relationship between the control activities and its objects in the multiview space and layers. The ACM presents the control flow with the logical relations among control activities as well as the control rules. Based on the two models mentioned above, the QDM supports the acquisition of quality data through data-collecting carriers along assembly process and defines the data structure to support the system model. All of the three models are grouped into a framework which integrates the technical approaches and solutions for quality assurance in mechanical assembly. Based on modeling studies, a computer-integrated and internet-based system called quality assurance system in mechanical assembly (QAS/MA) has been developed. And the development of QAS/MA proves that APM, ACM, QDM, and QAMA are practical and feasible.