Nonlinear optimisation in tolerance charts — A study of objective functions

One of the main objectives in tolerance charting is to determine the working dimensions and tolerances at the lowest cost without violating the blueprint specifications. It is with this objective in mind that the authors present a comprehensive study of the effect of the choice of an objective function on the final manufacturing cost. Optimisation of the objective functions has been done using PROFORT (nonlinear optimisation). The paper deals with a single example, solved using two linear and a nonlinear objective function.