Automatic selection of locating and clamping surfaces in polyhedral parts milling based on normal vector graph and linear algebra

Appropriate fixture design for manufacturing a product with quality and in accordance with the requirements is important task and depends on the designer’s experience and skills. In fixture design, the appropriate locating and clamping surfaces automatic selection is the most important of design step. Computer aided fixture design softwares ease the fixture design. In this paper, a new method is presented for automatic selection of appropriate clamping and locating surfaces based on the normal vector graph and linear algebra. At first, locating and clamping surfaces are classified with normal vector graph. Then, the best surfaces among the classified locating and clamping surfaces has been selected with the use of linear algebra method. The results for several sample parts have been tested. The obtained results of this study are applied in computer aided fixture design automation.