Parametric design evolution for production setups; a case study for welding fixtures

Automated design evolution and optimization are concepts of utmost interest to the industry for reducing design time and cost. This paper addresses the development of an automated design solution based on an evolutionary algorithm for a parametric design problem. The design problem addresses welding fixture designs as an integrated geometric design and configuration problem. The suggested automation approach is based on the parameterization of the fixture geometry and the welding process to minimize collisions across moving and static bodies during the welding operation. The aim is to produce a welding fixture design simulation that can be adjusted for specific requirements based on expert knowledge without re-iterating the entire composition of the problem. The modularity is demonstrated by modifications of the design problem formulation aimed at altering the exploration spectrum and design proposals of the welding fixture. An early system integration shows a reduction of designer efforts to 30% compared to a manual process, with an increase in overall process time due to software computational times.