The promise of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) is that they will enable many different parts to be produced automatically and continuously on a single set of machines. One major barrier to widespread commercial use of flexible manufacturing systems is that, with current technology, it is difficult to create fixtures to hold parts that are not similar in shape and size. Thus, many flexible manufacturing systems can produce only a limited variety of parts. If flexible fixtures were available, the number of parts that could be produced in a single FMS would increase, and flexible manufacturing systems would be more economically attractive. Much of the current research in flexible fixturing has centered around creating modular mechanical fixtures that can be automatically reconfigured for each part. Other methods such as phase-change fixtures and fluidized-bed fixtures have not received as much attention and consequently their uses are more limited. The proposed research will focus on the latter class of flexible fixtures. In particular, mathematical models of phase-change fixtures subjected to varying forces will be developed and verified. These models will then be used in the design, fabrication, and testing of phase-change fixtures. Finally, research will be undertaken to integrate the fixtures into flexible manufacturing systems. The study will encompass both authentic phase-change materials (those that undergo phase changes due to thermal or electrical pulses) and pseudo-phase-change materials (those that can be induced to act as solid or liquid depending on an external force field).
