The Development of an Intelligent Fixturing System

11 points

Uros Zuperl, Franc Cus

11 points 11 points

Abstract
This paper presents the concept, architecture, control scheme, models and methodologies for an intelligent fixturing system (IFS), and discusses the integration between the fixturing system and the milling machine tool. The main task of the IFS is to adaptively adjust the clamping forces to achieve minimum deformation of the workpiece according to the cutter position and the cutting forces. It also presents intelligent clamping strategies and adaptive clamping force control. This system is suitable for application in a high-precision machining environment where the workpiece deformation due to overclamping is a major problem. Numerous simulations and experiments are being conducted to confirm the efficiency of the proposed IFS. Keywords: Intelligent fixturing, force control, clamping

1 Introduction
Fixturing is an expensive and thus critical step in highserial, close-tolerance production of parts. This is especially evident in the automotive industry. A fixture needs to be custom fitted to each part, making changeovers slow and expensive. To solve this problem, Intelligent Fixturing systems have been developed [1, 2]. Instead of building a custom clamping device for every part, the IFS fixture adapts itself to a range of different parts. An intelligent fixturing system [3] is able to (1) pick any of a family of workpieces from a conveyor belt, (2) identify it, (3) automatically fixture it, and (4) position it relative to the machine tool for machining and (5) safely clamp it. An IFS consists of a vision system, a flexible clamping system, a part location system, and a micropositioner that positions the fixture so that the workpiece is precisely aligned on the machine tool table. Flexible fixturing systems have a strong potential to reduce capital-investment costs by as much as 25% per machining system [4]. The new-generation fixtures differ from the classic fixtures not only in the design but also in the properties. In standard production, the classic fixtures are controlled and monitored by operators. If an IFS is used, the fixtures work automatically, without operator intervention, and cooperate with other devices of the production system. Besides the basic functions, intelligent clamping fixtures provide some intelligent functions: control of the clamping forces/torques acting on a workpiece, monitoring of the clamping operations and elements of fixtures [5], readjustment of the locators and change of the clamping elements [6]. The aim of the force control is to decrease the workpiece deformation and the workpiece surface damage. In machining operations, an excessive clamping force causes deformation of a workpiece, which leads to dimensional and shape inaccuracy [7]. Especially in cases of machining of thin-walled components, deformation can be minimised by optimising the location and magnitude of clamping forces. Therefore, in an intelligent fixturing system, both the location and magnitude of clamping forces have to be controlled in real time. The major disadvantages of IFSs are very high cost and limited accessibility to the workpiece. A more realistic and cost-effective approach is to use off-line optimisation of the clamp location and on-line adjustment of clamping forces. Monitoring the clamping forces and the fixture elements enables continuous assessment of the clamping system.

2 Intelligent fixturing system

The study involved developing an intelligent fixturing system (Fig. 1) which adjusts the clamping forces adaptively as the position and the magnitude of the cutting forces vary during machining. To achieve minimum deformation of the workpiece, the system must be able to perform the following operations [8]: monitor the clamping force, monitor the machining forces, adjust the clamping force to a preset condition, adjust the clamping force according to the change in the workpiece geometry. All the above processes were designed to be implemented with the presented fixturing system. Adjusting the clamping force during machining requires applying a control system that is responsive to the changes in the workpiece dimensions. This can be achieved by using a closed loop control. The adaptive control theory was used for parameter identification.
Modular fixturing system Force monitoring system
Reaction forces (R1-R6)

Clamping control system

(C1,C2)

Stability module

Cutting forces (Fx,Fy, Fz)

Fixturing model

CNC Fagor

CNC communication modul

Figure 1 Intelligent Fixturing control scheme The application of the adaptive control theory aimed at improving the accuracy of the machining process. The intelligent fixturing system illustrated in Fig. 1 consists of a modular fixturing system, a fixturing model, a stability

PC controller

Clamping forces (C1,C2)

Clamping optimization algorithm

module, a clamping optimization algorithm, a clamping control system [9], a force monitoring module, and a module for communication with the CNC machine tool. At the beginning of the machining process, the reaction forces are measured through the sensors embedded in locators. This is a cylindrical locator assembly with a built-in ring-type force sensor (Kistler). The data are sent to the fixture and stability model. Three components of the cutting forces in end-milling are predicted using the fixture model. The optimisation algorithm determines the optimal clamping force values considering the cutter location and the three cutting force components. The predicted optimal clamping forces are then applied in real-time using a hydraulic clamping system. At the conceptual design stage, electro-pneumatic, electrohydraulic and electro-mechanical clamping devices were compared in terms of force range, response time, working environment, size and cost. Finally, an electro-hydraulic controlled clamping system was selected. The stability model is used to monitor the fixturing stability during the entire operation. A stable fixturing system must hold a workpiece firmly in place during machining. Once instability occurs, the module sends a command to the hydraulic system to increase the corresponding clamping force. This process is repeated until the completion of the machining process. Positive reaction forces at the locators ensure that the workpiece maintains contact with all the locators from the beginning of the cut to the end. A negative reaction force at the locator indicates that the workpiece is no longer in contact with the corresponding locators and the fixturing system is considered unstable. This stability criterion has been used by many researchers [10, 11]. Clamping control: The hydraulic clamping devices are designed to vary the forces responsible for the clamping of the workpiece during the machining process. Special software is used to control the hydraulic system and to apply the required clamping forces as the cutter moves to different locations on the workpiece. The clamping forces are proportional to the pressure in the hydraulic cylinder. This means that the clamping forces can be monitored by monitoring the pressure in the cylinder. Fixture model: Many cutting force models were developed in the past for milling, drilling and other machining processes [12]. Analytical cutting force modelling [13] is difficult due to the large number of interrelated machining parameters. These models are complex and are not suitable for on-line control as the computation time required is too long. In the intelligent fixture system, cutting forces are derived directly from the fixture model. This method simplifies the determination of the cutting forces. The proposed model is based on static equilibrium of the workpiece, mathematically expressed in Equations (1) and (2), because of its simplicity for on-line application. (1) 6 6 6
Fi R x = Fi R y = Fi R z = 0 i=1 x i=1 y i=1 z

3 Integration of the ifs system with the machine tool

The integrated machining centre consists of a Heller three-axis machine tool, a PC used to control and monitor the machine tool and a modular fixturing system. The integration of the fixture with other systems requires the fixturing system to be able to communicate with other systems. The machine tool can send commands to the fixturing system, and the fixturing system can send requests and information to the machine tool for certain tasks, such as stopping the machining process or decreasing the feed rate. Data communication is achieved through the DNC2 interface (Fagor). The fixturing system communicates with the machining centre and adjusts its clamping accordingly.

4 Intelligent clamping strategy

At the beginning of the machining process, the workpiece is clamped with an optimal clamping force. Once the machining process begins, the fixturing system monitors the clamping and cutting forces. Once the forces exceed a predetermined thresholds, a feedrate reduction request or stop request is sent to the machine tool from the fixturing system. When the machining centre stops cutting, the stiffness identification algorithm is activated determining the workpiece stiffness. If this value has reduced to a certain level a smaller clamping force is required. A reduced clamping force is therefore set and controlled accordingly. Then the machining operation is resumed. 11 points

5 Clamping optimization algorithm

The clamping forces should ideally be just sufficient to constrain and locate the workpiece without causing damage to the workpiece. If the clamping forces are too large, the machined workpiece may warp when released from the fixture. In practise the forces are constant during entire machining process. The deformation of the workpiece is directly related to the clamping, the reaction and the cutting forces [14]. The clamping forces are the only controllable forces. The objective of the optimization algorithm is to minimize all the controllable and reaction forces. This is expressed as the minimization of the sum of the squares of the clamping and reaction forces. Based on the force analysis and rigidity and stability constraints, the algorithm determines the optimal clamping force for every cutter position. The optimal clamping forces are defined as the minimum clamping forces necessary to keep the workpiece at static equilibrium throughout the entire machining process. The algorithm [15] is well-suited for designing fixtures since it can routinely determine the optimum sizes, the direction and the application points of clamping and reaction forces for different cases of clamping. It is based on static equilibrium analysis. The model is aimed at analysing the configuration of the fixture, confirming or rejecting it, if all the set conditions are not fulfilled. The algorithm determines: the minimum number and position of the locating and clamping elements for every cutter position, the motion allowed by the locating elements, the reactions at the points of contact of the workpiece-fixture (locating forces) the minimum clamping forces required for balancing of cutting forces.

6 6 6 (Fi ri ) M x = (Fi ri ) M y = (Fi ri ) M z = 0 i 1 i 1 i 1 = = = x y z

(2)

where: - the vectors defining the locating points ri Rx, Ry, Rz - components of the resultant cutting force Fc

6 Experimental set-up and results

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed Intelligent Fixturing System, the machining experiments were carried out on a thin-wall workpiece. The control scheme and the set-up of the proposed fixturing system is shown in Fig. 2.
C1
Z Y
X

C2 1 2 R4 R5

Clamping control system

R2 R3 R6 R1

R1-R6 Amplifier

Data Aquist. card

Mux

LabView

Figure 2 Fixturing set-up The 3-2-1 fixturing principle was applied to position the workpiece. For a Heller Bea 02 machine tool with a Fagor CNC controller, it was necessary to make a slot (Fig. 2). The tool path was marked with an arrow from point 1 to point 2. The milling cutter used for the experiment was 16 mm in diameter and had two cutting inserts (R-216-16 03 M-M). The cutting conditions were as follows: the cutting speed v=25m/min, the feed rate fz=0.01mm/tooth, and the cutting depth a=2.5 mm. The workpiece was made of Ck-45 steel. The components of the cutting forces (X, Y, and Z directions) with the cutting parameters defined above are calculated on the basis of the reaction forces (R1, to R6) measured at the sensors. Piezoelectric sensors are built into the six locators to measure the reaction forces during machining. The measured reaction forces are shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 4 Optimal on-line determined clamping forces The corresponding positive reaction forces are given in Fig. 5. As can be seen, the workpiece will not be detached from the six locators.

Figure 5 Reaction forces corresponding to the optimal clamping forces The results show that the clamping forces can be very small if varied (not fixed) clamping forces are applied.

7 Conclusions
This paper presents an intelligent fixturing system. The main task of an IFS is to adaptively adjust the clamping forces to achieve minimum deformation of the workpiece according to the cutter position and the cutting forces. The developed system is a solution for force controlled clamping over a large force range, at good resolution and fast response time. The force control performance of the developed system is very promising since the clamping forces can be varied within an interval of 150 msec. The approach also uses an optimization algorithm to determine the optimal clamping forces based on the static equilibrium analysis of the fixture system. It can be used to evaluate the performance of a fixture design together with a force model. The future implementation of the system will incorporate, besides the adaptive clamping force control, the repositioning of the clamping elements. Assoc. Prof. Zuperl Uros, D.Sc, Prof. Cus Franc, D.Sc, University of Mariboru, Faculty of mechanical engineering, Smetanova 17, SI-2000 Maribor E-mail: franc.cus@uni-mb.si E-mail: uros.zuperl@uni-mb.si Slovenia To be continued on page 15

Figure 3 Reaction forces measured on locators It can be seen that the reaction force R1 at some tool position is almost zero, which means that the workpiece in not at equilibrium. This indicates that the fixturing system is not stable under this set of constant clamping forces (C1=300N C2=250N). The clamping forces must be increased until all the reaction forces become positive. Two hydraulic clamping cylinders are employed to clamp the prismatic workpiece. The fluid pressure in each hydraulic cylinder is measured by a pressure gauge. The cutting forces, the tool position, the positions of the clamping/locating elements, the friction coefficient (=0.4) and the workpiece weight (Fg=47N) are taken into consideration during on-line calculations of optimal clamping forces. The optimal clamping forces are shown in Fig. 4.