Design and analysis of fuselage supporting position for aircraft final assembly

The number and layout of positioners should be designed reasonably to avoid misjudgment of fuselage manufacturing and assembly accuracy and guarantee the fuselage assembly quality. Based on the final assembly system of one certain large aircraft, a finite element model of the fuselage was established. Under different supporting conditions, the factors was influencing the fuselage deformation were identified and analyzed, such as the number and layout of positioners, and the mounting location of joint. The results showed that with the posture angle parameter changed from 0° to 10°, the average position error of measuring points changed from 0.641 to 0.910 mm, whereas the maximum position error of measuring points did not significantly change. With the installation angle of joint changed from 0°to 15°, the average position error of measuring points changed from 0.910 to 1.216 mm, and the maximum position error of measuring points changed from 2.803 to 3.129 mm. When the fuselage was supported by 3 positioners, 4 positioners and 6 positioners, the average position error of measuring points was 1.567, 0.690 and 0.458 mm respectively, and the maximum position error of measuring points was 2.738, 1.228 and 0.874 mm respectively. To fulfill the requirement of fuselage assembly technics, the fuselage should be supported by 6 positioners according to the fuselage deformation conditions.