A review of computer-aided fixture design with respect to information support requirements

This paper lays the foundation for an integrated representation for advanced computer-aided fixture design (CAFD) systems through a systematic comparative analysis of the existing CAFD systems. Significant work done in the CAFD field, the different methods used for each design phase, their working principles, and the information modeling requirements are presented. Information flows are developed through identification of CAFD phases (problem definition, fixture synthesis, and fixture analysis), of the effective methods for each, and of their input/output traffic. This survey is used to establish the representation and information requirements for integrated CAFD leading to a novel representation scheme. Specifically, the information types required include geometric information, locator information (number, type, orientation, and position), material properties, machining information (tool paths), applied forces, tolerance requirements, and displacement (errors).