Abstract
KEYWORDS:
virtual maintenance, design for serviceability, safety and human factor, digital mock-up, digital human models, ergonomic analysis.
ABSTRACT
An important goal in the development of a new vehicle is to ensure the respect of the serviceability and maintainability requirements in order to achieve, in after market, fast and easy service operations: saving time means in fact low cost and customer satisfaction. The present paper deals with the development of a methodology to evaluate the maintainability performance with Digital Mock-Up (DMU). The purpose of this methodology is to provide tools to increase DMU applications in the serviceability sector. It includes an analysis of working postures in order to find out the best “modus operandi” for a disassembly operation, ensuring the comfort operator. The proposed methodology uses 3D CAD and VR (Virtual Reality) systems for disassembly analysis and digital human modeling tools for accessibility analysis. This method allows to verify the feasibility of testing maintenance operation on the vehicle DMU with high level of confidence. Moreover using “Human Factors” methodologies it is possible to optimize disassembly process in terms of postural comfort and safety. The main benefits for product and process engineering are:
- respect of maintainability targets;
- simulation on DMU of all maintenance operations;
- generation of pictures and animations for training material;
- reduction of the repairing time.
Future developments concern the integration of this procedure with the Virtual Reality technologies in order to perform virtual disassembly tasks in an immersive environment, directly on DMU.