Reconfigurable tooling for airframe assembly : a state-of-the-art review of the related literature and a short presentation of a new tooling concept

摘要

From the early days of aircraft manufacturing Dedicated Tooling has been used in the assembly process to ensure the attainment of assembly tolerances and product quality. Dedicated Tooling clamps the aircraft parts to be assembled into the jig to enable assembly by riveting. However, increased competition in the aircraft industry has driven the need to improve quality while reducing cost and in turn the need for innovative solutions to accomplish this. In this review paper the possibility of using metrology to increase the position accuracy in robotics will be examined. This is necessary to be able to use robotics in assembly of aircraft parts with the appropriate accuracy. Also, because of the small product volumes in the aircraft industry, the jigs must be flexible in order to assemble more than one structure in each jig. Solving these two problems could be the break through for starting to use robotics in aircraft assembly at a higher rate, and doing so in a cost-effective way. By then reviewing literature of today's flexible tooling technology in the aircraft industry, the conclusion indicates that there is a gap to fill in aircraft assembly tooling. Modular Tools is one solution where standard aluminium profiles are used to manufacture jigs with some degree of flexibility. Another way is pogo fixturing, which uses sticks to hold airframe parts together in the assembly process. The sticks can only be reconfigured in a limited range, and are not cost-effective. By using Affordable Reconfigurable Tooling, the jigs will not only have greater ability to be reconfigured, but by using robotics for the reconfiguration task as well as for drilling, riveting and other material handling tasks, the system will also be cost effective.