Design and Simulation Of Robotic Spot Welding System for Automotive Manufacturing Application

摘要

Spot welding process for automotive manufacturing application is moving towards automation andudrobotic level. The transition process from manual to automation system need a proper planning and knowudhow. Simulation is the best solution for predicting, comparing or optimizing the performance of a processudwithout the risk of disrupting existing operations or cost of implementing a new actual process. This paperudpresents the application of simulation and statistical analysis for replacing a manual welding system of audbody shop assembly with a robotic spot welding system (RSWS). Initially, the RSWS developed uses audminimum number of robots for producing the same number of output as before. Robot selection analysis wasudperformed using Multi-Attribute Decision Making method. The CAD model was built using Solidworksudsoftware and simulation was performed using Robotworks software. The data that was acquired from robotudworkcell simulation were transferred to Witness software for purpose of shop floor simulation. The results from Witness simulation show that the new welding layout is capable of achieving the manufacturer’s target. The analysis shows results of lower operational cost and the break event point will be achieved by the third year of operation. The implementation of RSWS for automotive application is reasonable because of efficiency, accuracy and cost effective.ud