A new rapid prototyping system using universal automated fixturing with feature-based CAD/CAM

Machining is the most commonly used process in the manufacturing of prototy pes. This process offers several advantages, such as rigidity of the machin e, precision of the operation and an especially quick delivery. The weight and immobility of the machine support and immobilize the part during the op eration. However, despite these advantages, machining still presents severa l limitations. The immobilization, location and support of the parts are re ferred to as fixturing or workholding and present the biggest challenge for time-efficient machining. Thus, it is important to select and design an ap propriate fixturing assembly. This assembly depends on the complexity of th e part and the tool path and may require the construction of dedicated fixt ures. With traditional techniques, the range of fixturable shapes is limite d and the identification of suitable fixtures in a given set-up involves co mplex reasoning. To solve this limitation and to apply the automation this paper presents reference- free part encapsulation and the implementation of the encapsulation system. The feature-based modeling and encapsulation sys tems are explored. A small part for which it is difficult to determine the appropriate fixturing assembly is made by this system. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.