Review of the application of flexible, measurement-assisted assembly technology in aircraft manufacturing

Abstract

Aircraft assembly is the most important part of aircraft manufacturing. A large number of assembly fixtures must be used to ensure the assembly accuracy in the aircraft assembly process. Traditional fixed assembly fixture could not satisfy the change of the aircraft types, so the digital flexible assembly fixture was developed and was gradually applied in the aircraft assembly. Digital flexible assembly technology has also become one of the research directions in the field of aircraft manufacturing. The aircraft flexible assembly can be divided into three assembly stages that include component-level flexible assembly, large component-level flexible assembly, and large components alignment and joining. This article introduces the architecture of flexible assembly systems and the principles of three types of flexible assembly fixtures. The key technologies of the digital flexible assembly are also discussed. The digital metrology system provides the basis for the accurate digital flexible assembly. Aircraft flexible assembly systems mainly use laser tracking metrology systems and indoor Global Positioning System metrology systems. With the development of flexible assembly technology, the digital flexible assembly system will be widely used in current aircraft manufacturing.

A Parallel Ranging-Based Relative Position and Orientation Measurement Method for Large-Volume Components

“…The traditional method is generally to figure out the geometric size of the component by standard gauges with analog transfer, which has been unable to meet the increasing requirements of alignment. Hence, it is of great theoretical and practical value to research for a high-accuracy digital measurement system for the alignment process of a large-volume component [1,2].…”

Towards an automated masking process: A model-based approach

“…Moreover, the automation of other processes involving dispensing of viscous liquids similar to the masking process has been previously investigated such as: robotic sealing of aerospace parts 5 , robotic coating for space solar modules 6 , robotic spray painting for automotive parts 7,8 , robotic workstations for small volume liquid dispensing and handling in laboratories 9 . In addition, automation of different processes in the aircraft manufacturing and assembly is being increasingly sought after 10,11 . However, limited attention has been directed towards automating the manual masking operations, despite being a significant bottleneck for repetitive production processes involving components with complex geometries, such as the case for turbine blades in aircraft engines 12 .…”

“…found to linearise the data and result in an improved model fit. The resulting empirical model relating the studied process parameters to the measured response is presented in Equation(10). It can be noticed that the equation follows the same structure as the mathematical model derived earlier in Equation(9).…”

Positioning method and assembly precision for aircraft wing skin

“…4 To fit the requirements of ever-changing market, the development of flexible assembly tooling technology can fulfill this goal. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] One of its key characteristics is adjustability and configurability. It can be fit for varying components with different shapes and dimensions and can realize multi-products' assembly work.…”