Abstract
Abstract
Clamps are the major fixturing devices that constrain workpieces to perform manufacturing operations. As gaps exist between the clamp and workpiece, these gaps are forced to close during the clamping action and accordingly undesirable structural deformation results. This is especially true for sheet-metal assembly processes. One way to reduce clamping deformation in an assembly process is to apply clamp shimming, which slightly changes the normal clamping position of a part. However, it is generally very time-consuming to determine the optimal shim size for each clamp. An algorithm for clamp shimming optimization is proposed in this paper. Application results of two industrial parts demonstrated that the proposed algorithm effectively achieve the objective.