TECHNICAL PAPER 2008 Society of Manufacturing Engineers  One SME Drive  PO Box 930 Dearborn, MI 48121  Phone (313) 425-3000  www.sme.org TP08PUB110 Model Simplification in Compliant Assembly Analysis authors W. HUANG University of Massachusetts Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA, USA Z. KONG Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK, USA abstract Principles for model simplification in compliant assembly variation analysis are developed based on solid mechanics principles. They involve the effects of in/out-of plane (IP/OP) error interaction, significance of process factors, and spring-backfree transformation. Case studies are provided for verification. conference NAMRC 2008 May 20–23, 2008 Tecnológico de Monterrey Monterrey, MEXICO terms Sheet Metal Assembly Dimensional Variation Compliant Parts