Machining Accuracy Analysis for Computer-aided Fixture Design Verification

This paper presents a machining accuracy analysis for computer-aided fixture design verification. While discussing the utilization of CNC machine tools and machining centers, machining errors are described in terms of deterministic and random components and analyzed on the bases of their sources, where high machining accuracy and multi-operation under a single setup become major characteristics of manufacturing systems. In machining processes, a resultant dimension may be generated in terms of several relevant dimensions. The dependency of variation among these dimensions is examined and the relationships of locating datum and machining surfaces are analyzed. Variation among linear and angular dimensions are considered. Five basic models of dimension variation relationships are proposed to estimate the machining error, where different formulas of resultant dimension variation are given for different combinations of variation among relevant dimensions. A datum-machining surface relationship graph (DMG) is developed to represent the dependent relationships. A matrix-based reasoning algorithm is designed to search for the shortest path in the DMG. Once the relationship between a specified pair of surfaces is identified, different models of corresponding relationships may be utilized to estimate the possible machining errors which can be used to compare the fixturing accuracy requirement.