The use of the Taguchi method and principal component analysis for the sensitivity analysis of a dual-purpose six-bar mechanism

In this paper, the Taguchi method and the principal component analysis were applied to a dual-purpose six-bar mechanism for investigating the influence of manufacturing tolerance and joint clearance on the quality of the mechanism. Experiments were carried out based on the orthogonal array from the Taguchi method, which calculated the S/N ratios of the positional and angular errors of a dual-purpose six-bar mechanism. Using the principal component analysis, the S/N ratios were transformed into a multiple performance index to further understand the effect of the control factors on the quality of the six-bar mechanism. Using the analysis of response table and response diagram, the key dimensions of the mechanism could be identified and their tolerance optimized, i.e. decreasing the tolerance of important dimensions and increasing the rest, with the objective of simultaneously improving the quality of the mechanism and reducing the cost.