Automatic modeling technique for tightly correlative structure in aircraft manufacturing tooling

Tightly correlative structures are widely used in aircraft manufacturing tooling, elements which constitute them have rigorous correlations in the spatial orientation and structural dimensions, but sometimes they do not constitute a complete assembly as independent part of the overall structure attached to the tooling. Tedious manual operations are needed to model these structures by existing techniques. In order to realize automatic modeling for these structures, a technique of virtual assembly parts was proposed, based on associated relation in structure. Firstly, concept of virtual assembly parts was introduced on the basis of the dependencies of elements which constitute tightly correlative structures, and applied to formally define and represent tightly correlative structure. Secondly, the principle of automatic modeling of these structures was established, and the key algorithms involved such as semantic model interpretation, document creation and sub-parts mounting were elaborated. Finally, V-block assembly structure example was given to illustrate the validity and effectiveness of the approach.