Genetic Algorithm for Sensitivity Analysis of Automobile Hood Four-bar Mechanism Synthesis Using Motion Generation

In four-bar motion generation, linkage dimensions are calculated to achieve prescribed coupler positions. This work investigates the sensitivity of four-bar coupler motion sequences by analyzing position error margins and implementing a genetic algorithm (GA) for four-bar motion generation. As an application, the four-bar hood mechanism in the Plymouth Satellite mid-size automobile is considered. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the mean average structural error between the prescribed and achieved hood positions is less than 0.015in for any quadratic analysis. In each demonstration, the proposed method consistently produced results that are scalable for 360° within a margin error of 0.06in.