OFF-LINE MODELING AND PLANNING OF OPTIMAL CLAMPING FORCES FOR AN INTELLIGENT FIXTURING SYSTEM

An intelligent fixturing system (IFS) for machining aims to adaptively adjust the clamping forces to achieve minimum deformation of the work piece according to the cutter position and the cutting forces. This pa per presents the concept, architecture, control scheme, models and met hodologies for an IFS. Using off-line simulations and on-line experime ntal verifications, the performance of the proposed IFS is evaluated a nd verified. As adaptive clamping forces appropriate to the dynamic ma chining environment are employed, the IFS offers higher quality of mac hined parts and greater robustness to disturbances. This system is sui table for application in high-precision machining environment as well as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.