This paper presents the methodology of Digital Panel Assembly (DPA), a computer aided approach in automotive body panel assembly. Core to the methodology is special-purpose finite element software, EAVS, that can simulate the panel assembly processes and predict assembly dimensions by taking into considerations of the compliant nature of panels and sub-assemblies. To validate the methodology, a non-contact EOIS optical scanning procedure for panel measurement is established. The validation study shows that the reported methodology can accurately predict the 1st level panel subassemblies. Finally, the resource requirements, functional capabilities, and scalability of the digital panel assembly methodology towards a complete Body-in-White implementation are discussed.
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