Optimization of Fixture Number in Large Thin-Walled Parts Assembly Based on IPSO

There are lots of researches on fixture layout optimization for large thin-walled parts.Current researches focus on the positioning problem,i.e.,optimizing the positions of a constant number of fixtures.However,how to determine the number of fixtures is ignored.In most cases,the number of fixtures located on large thin-walled parts is determined based on engineering experience,which leads to huge fixture number and extra waste.Therefore,this paper constructs an optimization model to minimize the number of fixtures.The constraints are set in the optimization model to ensure that the part deformation is within the surface profile tolerance.In addition,the assembly gap between two parts is also controlled.To conduct the optimization,this paper develops an improved particle swarm optimization(IPSO)algorithm by integrating the shrinkage factor and adaptive inertia weight.In the algorithm,particles are encoded according to the fixture position.Each dimension of the particle is assigned to a sub-region by constraining the optional position range of each fixture to improve the optimization efficiency.Finally,a case study on ship curved panel assembly is provided to prove that our method can optimize the number of fixtures while meeting the assembly quality requirements.This research proposes a method to optimize the number of fixtures,which can reduce the number of fixtures and achieve deformation control at the same time.

Development of Fixture Layout Optimization for Thin-Walled Parts:A Review

An increasing number of researchers have researched fixture layout optimization for thin-walled part assembly during the past decades.However,few papers systematically review these researches.By analyzing existing literature,this paper summarizes the process of fixture layout optimization and the methods applied.The process of optimization is made up of optimization objective setting,assembly variation/deformation modeling,and fixture layout optimization.This paper makes a review of the fixture layout for thin-walled parts according to these three steps.First,two different kinds of optimization objectives are introduced.Researchers usually consider in-plane variations or out-of-plane deformations when designing objectives.Then,modeling methods for assembly variation and deformation are divided into two categories:Mechanism-based and data-based methods.Several common methods are discussed respectively.After that,optimization algorithms are reviewed systematically.There are two kinds of optimization algorithms:Traditional nonlinear programming and heuristic algorithms.Finally,discussions on the current situation are provided.The research direction of fixture layout optimization in the future is discussed from three aspects:Objective setting,improving modeling accuracy and optimization algorithms.Also,a new research point for fixture layout optimization is discussed.This paper systematically reviews the research on fixture layout optimization for thin-walled parts,and provides a reference for future research in this field.

Optimization of material removal strategy in milling of thin-walled parts

The optimal material removal strategy can improve a geometric accuracy and surface quality of thin-walled parts such as turbine blades and blisks in high-speed ball end milling.The dominant conception in the material removal represents the persistence of the workpiece cutting stiffness in operation to advance the machining accuracy and machining efficiency.On the basis of theoretical models of cutting stiffness and deformation,finite element method (FEM) is applied to calculate the virtual displacements of the thin-walled part under given virtual loads at the nodes of the discrete surface.With the reference of deformation distribution of the thin-walled part,the milling material removal strategy is optimized to make the best of bracing ability of still uncut material.This material removal method is summarized as the lower stiffness region removed firstly and the higher stiffness region removed next.Analytical and experimental results show the availability,which has been verified by the blade machining test in this work,for thin-walled parts to reduce cutting deformation and meliorate machining quality.

Initial residual stress experiment and simulation of thin-walled parts for layer removal method

Thin-walled parts have low stiffness characteristic. Initial residual stress of thin-walled blanks is an important influence factor on machining stability. The present work is to verify the feasibility of an initial residual stress measurement of layer removal method. According to initial residual stress experiment for casting ZL205 A aluminum alloy tapered thin-walled blank by a common method,namely hole-drilling method,three finite element models with initial residual stress are established to simulate the layer removal method in ABAQUS and ANSYS software. By analyzing the results of simulation and experiments,the cutting residual stress inlayer removal process has a significant effect on measurement results. Reducing cutting residual stress is helpful to improve accuracy of layer removal method.

Mapping relationship analysis of welding assembly properties for thin-walled parts with finite element and machine learning algorithm

The finite element(FE)-based simulation of welding characteristics was carried out to explore the relationship among welding assembly properties for the parallel T-shaped thin-walled parts of an antenna structure.The effects of welding direction,clamping,fixture release time,fixed constraints,and welding sequences on these properties were analyzed,and the mapping relationship among welding characteristics was thoroughly examined.Different machine learning algorithms,including the generalized regression neural network(GRNN),wavelet neural network(WNN),and fuzzy neural network(FNN),are used to predict the multiple welding properties of thin-walled parts to mirror their variation trend and verify the correctness of the mapping relationship.Compared with those from GRNN and WNN,the maximum mean relative errors for the predicted values of deformation,temperature,and residual stress with FNN were less than 4.8%,1.4%,and 4.4%,respectively.These results indicate that FNN generated the best predicted welding characteristics.Analysis under various welding conditions also shows a mapping relationship among welding deformation,temperature,and residual stress over a period of time.This finding further provides a paramount basis for the control of welding assembly errors of an antenna structure in the future.

A model of deformation of thin-wall surface parts during milling machining process

A three-dimensional finite element model was established for the milling of thin-walled parts. The physical model of the milling of the part was established using the AdvantEdge FEM software as the platform. The aluminum alloy impeller was designated as the object to be processed and the boundary conditions which met the actual machining were set. Through the solution, the physical quantities such as the three-way cutting force, the tool temperature, and the tool stress were obtained, and the calculation of the elastic deformation of the thin-walled blade of the free-form surface at the contact points between the tool and the workpiece was realized. The elastic deformation law of the thin-walled blade was then predicted. The results show that the maximum deviation between the predicted value and the actual measured machining value of the elastic deformation was 26.055 μm; the minimum deviation was 2.011 μm, with the average deviation being 10.154 μm. This shows that the prediction is in close agreement with the actual result.

Numerical simulation analysis for deformation deviation and experimental verification for an antenna thin-wall parts considering riveting assembly with finite element method

In the process of thin-wall parts assembly for an antenna,the parts assembly deformation deviation is occurring due to the riveting assembly.In view of the riveting assembly deformation problems,it can be analyzed through transient and static simulation.In this work,the theoretical deformation model for riveting assembly is established with round head rivet.The simulation analysis for riveting deformation is carried out with the riveting assembly piece including four rivets,which comparing with the measuring points experiment results of riveting test piece through dealing with the experimental data using the point coordinate transform method and the space line fitting method.Simultaneously,the deformation deviation of the overall thin-wall parts assembly structure is analyzed through finite element simulation;and its results are verified by the measuring experiment for riveting assembly with the deformation deviation of some key points on the thin-wall parts.Through the comparison analysis,it is shown that the simulation results agree well with the experimental results,which proves the correctness and effectiveness of the theoretical analysis,simulation results and the given experiment data processing method.Through the study on the riveting assembly for thin-wall parts,it will provide a theoretical foundation for improving thin-wall parts assembly quality of large antenna in future.

Welding thermal characteristics analysis with numerical simulation for thin-wall parts assembly under different conditions

In order to analyze the welding thermal characteristics problem,the multiscale finite element(FE)model of T-shape thin-wall assembly structure for different thicknesses and the heat source model are established to emphatically study their welding temperature distributions under different conditions.Simultaneously,different welding technology parameters and welding directions are taken into account,and the fillet weld for different welding parameters is employed on the thin-wall parts.Through comparison analysis,the results show that different welding directions,welding thicknesses and welding heat source parameters have a certain impact on the temperature distribution.Meanwhile,for the thin-wall assembly structure of the same thickness,when the heat source is moving,the greater the moving speed,the smaller the heating area,and the highest temperature will decrease.Therefore,the welding temperature field distribution can be altered by adjusting welding parameters,heat source parameters,welding thickness and welding direction,which is conducive to reducing welding deformation and choosing an appropriate and optimal welding thickness of thin-wall parts and relative welding process parameters,thus improving thin-wall welding structure assembly precision in the actual large-size welding structure assembly process in future.

Inner and outer pressure forming of nickel based super-alloy thin-walled part with variable diameter sections

A novel forming method of nickel based super-alloy thin-walled part with variable diameter sections was proposed by using inner and outer pressure with the visco-elasto-plastic pressure-carrying medium at room temperature,and the principle of the method was provided.Experiments and FE simulations were carried out to analyze the deformation characteristics for the part with larger variable diameter ratio(35%).The results show that visco-elasto-plastic pressure-carrying medium can meet the requirements of the room-temperature deformation condition for nickel based super-alloy sheet.The inner and outer pressure forming with the visco-elasto-plastic pressure-carrying medium can meet the requirements of dimensional accuracy for the thin-walled part with variable diameter sections.The thinning of wall-thickness is less than 4%.This method provides a new approach for near-net shape forming of nickel based super-alloy thin-walled parts with variable diameter sections.

Experimental and numerical assessment of energy absorption capacity of thin-walled Al 5083 tube produced by PTCAP process

The energy absorption capacity of the Al5083 thin-walled tube produced by parallel tubular angular pressing(PTCAP) process was evaluated. Also, microstructure, mechanical properties, and anisotropy coefficients were studied in the peripheral and axial directions. Results showed that values of energy absorption decreased with processing pass increasing and the values for the unprocessed, first and second passes were obtained to be 167, 161.4 and 160.7 J, respectively. The differences between the simulation results for the energy absorption values and their experimental values for the unprocessed, the first and the second PTCAP passes samples are about 5%, 10%, and 13%, respectively. The energy absorption capacity was related to the anisotropy coefficient and microstructure. The results demonstrated that grain refinement occurred and ultimate tensile strength(UTS) and microhardness after the first and second PTCAP passes were enhanced, while the increase rate in the first pass was much severer. Also, by applying PTCAP, the deformation modes were altered, such that the deformation mode of the annealed tube was quite symmetrical and circular while for the first and second passes there have been triple and double lobes diamond. The results of the numerical simulation for the deformation mode of the annealed and PTCAPed tubes were consistent with the experimental results. The deformation mode of tubes is dependent on their mechanical properties and variation of the mechanical properties during PTCAP process.

Deformation Analysis and Fixture Design of Thin-walled Cylinder in Drilling Process Based on TRIZ Theory

Thin-walled cylindrical workpiece is easy to deform during machining and clamping processes due to the insufficient rigidi.Moreover,it’s also difficult to ensure the perpendicularity of flange holes during drilling process.In this paper,the element birth and death technique is used to obtain the axial deformation of the hole through finite element simulation.The measured value of the perpendicularity of the hole was compared with the simulated value to verify then the rationality of the simulation model.To reduce the perpendicularity error of the hole in the drilling process,the theory of inventive principle solution(TRIZ)was used to analyze the drilling process of thin-walled cylinder,and the corresponding fixture was developed to adjust the supporting surface height adaptively.Three different fixture supporting layout schemes were used for numerical simulation of drilling process,and the maximum,average and standard deviation of the axial deformation of the flange holes and their maximum hole perpendicularity errors were comparatively analyzed,and the optimal arrangement was optimized.The results show that the proposed deformation control strategy can effectively improve the drilling deformation of thin-walled cylindrical workpiece,thereby significantly improving the machining quality of the parts.

Relative Varying Dynamics Based Whole Cutting Process Optimization for Thin‑walled Parts

Thin-walled parts are typically difficult-to-cut components due to the complex dynamics in cutting process.The dynamics is variant for part during machining,but invariant for machine tool.The variation of the relative dynamics results in the difference of cutting stage division and cutting parameter selection.This paper develops a novel method for whole cutting process optimization based on the relative varying dynamic characteristic of machining system.A new strategy to distinguish cutting stages depending on the dominated dynamics during machining process is proposed,and a thickness-dependent model to predict the dynamics of part is developed.Optimal cutting parameters change with stages,which can be divided by the critical thickness of part.Based on the dynamics comparison between machine tool and thickness-varying part,the critical thicknesses are predicted by an iterative algorithm.The proposed method is validated by the machining of three benchmarks.Good agreements have been obtained between prediction and experimental results in terms of stages identification,meanwhile,the optimized parameters perform well during the whole cutting process.

CAD APPROACH FOR PLASTIC MOULD PARTING DIRECTIONS OPTIMIZATION

A CAD approach which can optimize and automate the parting direction determination is presented. The approach is based on the geometrical and topological information of the solid modelling of the plastic moulded part in order to select a pair of optimal parting directions of a two plate mould which minimizes the number of side cores. The shell of a part is divided into inter influential regions and non influential faces in the mould design point of view. Through analyzing and computing the accessibility direction cones of the inter influential regions, the optimal parting directions can be determined automatically.

Elliptical vibration cutting of large-size thin-walled curved surface parts of pure iron by using diamond tool with active cutting edge shift

Large-size thin-walled curved surface parts of pure iron are crucial in aerospace,national defense,energy and precision physical experiments.However,the high machining accuracy and surface quality are difficult to achieve due to the serious tool wear and deformation when machining the parts with conventional cutting tools.In this paper,an elliptical vibration cutting(EVC)with active cutting edge shift(ACES)based on a long arbor vibration device is proposed for ultraprecision machining the pure iron parts by using diamond tool.Compared with cutting at a fixed cutting edge,the influence of ACES on the EVC was analyzed.Experiments in EVC of pure iron with ACES were conducted.The evolutions of the surface roughness,surface topography,and chip morphology with tool wear in EVC with ACES are revealed.The reasonable parameters of ultraprecision machining the pure iron parts by EVC with ACES were determined.It shows that the ACES has a slight influence on the machined surface roughness and surface topography.The diamond tool life can be significantly prolonged in EVC of pure iron with ACES than that with a fixed cutting edge,so that high profile accuracy and surface quality could be obtained even at higher nominal cutting speed.A typical thin-walled curved surface pure iron part with diameter φ240 mm,height 122 mm,and wall thickness 2 mm was fabricated by the presented method,and its profile error and surface roughness achieved PV 2.2μm and Ra less than 50 nm,respectively.

Effects of Carburized Parts on Residual Stresses of Thin-Rimmed Spur Gears with Symmetric Web Arrangements Due to Case-Carburizing

This paper presents a study on effects of carburized parts on residual stresses of thin-rimmed spur gears with symmetric web arrangements due to the case-carburizing. The carbon content of each element of the FEM gear model due to carburizing was obtained according to Vickers hardness Hv - carbon content C% and C% - d (distance from surface) charts. A heat conduction analysis and an elastic-plastic stress analysis during the case-carburizing process of thin-rimmed spur gears with symmetric web arrangements were carried out for various case-carburizing conditions by using the three-dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM) program developed by authors, and then residual stresses were obtained. The effects of the carburized part, the web structure, and the rim thickness on the residual stress were determined.

基于PC/ABS薄壁成型的雾化器机筒注射模设计

针对雾化机机筒薄壁塑件模腔流长比为77.8,并且采用PC/ABS进行注塑要求的特点,设计了1副两板2次开模的自动化注塑成型。模具中,针对塑件模腔的浇注,设置了2个潜伏式浇口,保证模腔的充填效果。为实现塑件的自动脱模,设计了3个脱模步骤,相应的机构及机构动作为采用了2副哈夫滑块机构用于塑件外壁的脱模,2副哈夫滑块机构均依靠模具打开的开模动力分次实施抽芯;第一副哈夫滑块机构用于定模一侧外壁的侧抽芯脱模,其通过动模侧的第一次开模打开驱动,完成先抽芯动作;第二副哈夫滑块机构用于动模一侧外壁圆环型凹槽的侧抽芯脱模,其通过动模侧的第二次开模打开驱动,完成抽芯动作。为实现模具2次开模按顺序进行,该模具中设计了一种开模控制机构,机构通过解锁插杆驱动移动锁芯实现与锁钩的锁闭/开锁功能,从而实现了模具开/闭模动作的有序进行。

农业拖拉机尾灯多色注塑模具设计

以农业拖拉机尾灯为研究对象,分析了尾灯的内部结构和工艺性,并针对双色模具的特殊性,分析了模具成型方案和设计流程,基于AutoCAD和CAE软件完成了尾灯双色塑件模具的设计。开模试验表明:该产品符合设计需求,整个产品结构稳定,透明度好,设计的模具结构合理、工艺流程可靠,能够满足实际的生产应用,工程应用价值较高。

基于数值模拟的钛合金锥形件激光辅助铲旋成形研究

针对中部带法兰锥形件采用传统“锻造+机加工”制备时材料利用率低、强度及韧性不足的问题,提出采用激光辅助铲旋成形工艺来实现钛合金中部带法兰锥形件的完整近净成形。根据铲旋成形原理,选取合适的激光热源模型,并基于Simufact Forming软件平台建立激光辅助铲旋有限元模型,研究了铲旋成形过程中的中部法兰变形区温度、变形行为及等效塑性应力和等效塑性应变分布规律。结果表明,采用坯料整体预热+激光辅助补热的方式,可实现坯料基体表层温度高、内层温度低,既有利于表面金属材料铲旋成形出法兰,又可避免锥壁翘起;铲旋成形时变形区材料轴向流动较多,径向流动较少,法兰形状呈“倒水滴”状;旋轮接触区等效塑性应力值较大,但法兰主体部分等效塑性应力值较小且分布均匀;基体主要变形区等效塑性应变值最大,达9~11,沿厚度方向逐渐减小,具有局部大塑性变形且变形不均匀的特点。

汽车中控壳注塑模及其五次六元复合斜滑块设计

汽车中控壳塑件注塑模具设计中,因塑件正面和背面都需要采用斜向脱模方式脱模,特别是背面的特征组成中,特征多且构成复杂,因此为该区域特征的脱模创新设计了一种五次六元复合斜滑块机构在局部区域实施抽芯脱模,并构建了该机构的力学运动模型。该复合斜滑块机构的结构设计为:利用油缸驱动1个主体斜滑块实施主抽芯,主体斜滑块的上端设置了一个先抽芯斜滑块即上斜滑块,上斜滑块先抽芯时驱动3个斜顶、4根弹簧顶针和1个C4侧型芯镶件;主体斜滑块的下端还设置了一个先抽芯斜滑块即斜型芯,该斜型芯也先于主体斜滑块抽芯;在上斜滑块完成先抽芯后,主体斜滑块的驱动油缸先驱动斜型芯抽芯,而后再驱动主体斜滑块及其上其余5种脱模元件一起完成抽芯。为实现塑件的自动化生产,在此复合斜滑块机构设计基础上,塑件的模具结构设计成热流道两板式两次开模模具,模具中还设计了1个正面油缸斜抽芯机构和4个斜导柱滑块机构,较好地实现了塑件的自动化生产。

多重载荷下螺接脆性塑料零件的强度设计校核

针对脆性塑料零件采用螺纹联接安装时,在各种工况环境的静载荷和动载荷输入条件下,对安装孔区域出现裂纹的失效模式进行了分析。通过理论计算和结构仿真分析相结合,提出了强度计算校核方法和安装紧固力矩限值的计算方法,并通过力学环境试验进行了有效验证,给出了安装紧固的改进设计措施。