Design and experiment verification of a new heavy friction-stir-weld robot for large-scale complex surface structures
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a new friction-stir-weld robot for large-scale complex surface structures, which has high stiffness and good flexibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The robot system is designed according to manufacturability of large aluminum products in aeronautic and astronautic area. The kinematic model of the robot is established, and a welding trajectory planning method is also developed and verified by experiments.
Findings
Experimental results show that the robot system can meet the requirements of friction stir welding (FSW) for large-scale complex surface structures.
Practical implications
Compared with other heavy robotic arm and machine tool welding devices, this robot has better working quality and capability, which can greatly improve the manufacturability for large-scale complex surface structures.
Originality/value
The friction-stir-weld robot system is a novel solution for welding large-scale complex surface structures. Its major advantages are the high stiffness, good flexibility and high precision of the robot body, which can meet the requirements of FSW. Besides, a welding trajectory planning method based on iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm is used for welding trajectory.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for valuable suggestions and corrections. This research was supported by National Science and Technology Major Project of China (Grant No. 2010ZX04007-011) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2014M561982).
Citation
Wu, J., Zhang, R. and Yang, G. (2015), "Design and experiment verification of a new heavy friction-stir-weld robot for large-scale complex surface structures", Industrial Robot, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 332-338. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-01-2015-0009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited