Adaptable Fixtures for Flexible Manufacturing Systems

柔性制造系统（FMS）的前景是， 它们将使许多不同的零件能够自动生产， 在一台机器上连续运行。 一个主要的障碍， 柔性制造系统的广泛商业应用在于， 利用当前的技术，很难创建固定装置来保持， 形状和尺寸不相似的部件。 因此，许多灵活 制造系统只能生产有限种类的零件。 如果 灵活的固定装置是可用的，部件的数量， 在一个单一的FMS生产将增加，灵活 制造系统将在经济上更具吸引力。 目前柔性夹具的研究主要集中在 围绕创建模块化机械装置， 自动为每个部分重新配置。 其它方法如 相变固定装置和流化床固定装置尚未收到， 更多的关注，因此它们的用途更加有限。 的 建议的研究将集中在后一类灵活的 固定装置。 特别是相变的数学模型 将开发和验证承受各种力的固定装置。 这些模型将用于设计，制造， 相变夹具的测试。 最后，研究将 致力于将夹具集成到柔性制造中 系统. 这项研究将包括真实的相变 材料（由于热或热作用而发生相变的材料） 电脉冲）和伪相变材料（那些可以 取决于外力场而被诱导为固体或液体）。

The promise of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) is that they will enable many different parts to be produced automatically and continuously on a single set of machines. One major barrier to widespread commercial use of flexible manufacturing systems is that, with current technology, it is difficult to create fixtures to hold parts that are not similar in shape and size. Thus, many flexible manufacturing systems can produce only a limited variety of parts. If flexible fixtures were available, the number of parts that could be produced in a single FMS would increase, and flexible manufacturing systems would be more economically attractive. Much of the current research in flexible fixturing has centered around creating modular mechanical fixtures that can be automatically reconfigured for each part. Other methods such as phase-change fixtures and fluidized-bed fixtures have not received as much attention and consequently their uses are more limited. The proposed research will focus on the latter class of flexible fixtures. In particular, mathematical models of phase-change fixtures subjected to varying forces will be developed and verified. These models will then be used in the design, fabrication, and testing of phase-change fixtures. Finally, research will be undertaken to integrate the fixtures into flexible manufacturing systems. The study will encompass both authentic phase-change materials (those that undergo phase changes due to thermal or electrical pulses) and pseudo-phase-change materials (those that can be induced to act as solid or liquid depending on an external force field).