Machining Fixture Layout Design for Milling Operation Using FEA, ANN and RSM

Abstract

Workpiece elastic deformation caused during machining influences the dimensional and form errors. The machining fixtures are used for positioning the workpiece accurately to reduce the dimensional and form errors during machining. The position of the fixture elements is a major concern in minimizing the errors caused during machining. The optimal positioning of clamps and locators can minimize the elastic deformation of the workpiece which in turn reduces the machining errors. The main focus of this research work is to predict the fixture layout to minimize the maximum elastic deformation of the workpiece during machining. The finite element method (FEM) has been employed to determine the workpiece elastic deformation. The position of the fixturing elements is predicted using both Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In this paper, a numerical example has been considered from the literature to compare the performance of ANN and RSM.