Course code: MEE4001 Date of submission: 31/03/2019

Course Name: TOOL DESIGN

Faculty In-charge: RAJYALAKSHMI Slot: G1 + TG1
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DIGITAL ASSIGNMENT-1

Done By:
Name: ANIRUDH SHANKAR
Reg No: 16BME0341
 MULTI AXIS WORK HOLDING

ABSTRACT
5-axis self centering vise, best 5 axis vise, 4th axis work holding are some names that can be
heard in high production companies these days. These are work holding devices with more
degrees of freedom than conventional ones, making it much easier to work with abnormal
geometries.

INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE

Any part manufactured in a mill needs to be fixtured in some form or fashion. Fixturing a part
primarily does two things. First, it holds the part while the forces associated with cutting the
material attempt to move it. Second, it serves to locate the part within a mill’s operating envelope,
thus allowing accurate measurements to be made. Even with the large range of fixturing methods,
parts still need to be designed with fixturing in mind. Parts with abnormal geometry have no
fixturing method that is practical for their machining and often need to be adjusted or abandoned. In
some instances, parts with abnormal geometry can be fixtured with traditional fixturing methods,
but often times the process of adapting traditional fixturing to abnormal geometry ends up being
time consuming and costly. With this in mind, a method for fixturing abnormal geometry would
improve the versatility and capability of milling operations.

A fixturing method accomplishes two primary tasks, location and clamping of the work piece.
Location depends upon the positioning and orientation of the piece within the machine. In this
respect, there are 12 total degrees of freedom that need to be fixed in order to secure the location
of a work piece. Clamping is the physical action of holding the work piece in place while the
machining operations take place. This process is a balancing act between rigidly holding the work
piece and resisting deformation due to over application of clamping pressure. It also needs to resist
vibrations generating during milling operations.

METHODS
Hemisphere Proof of Concept: As a proof of concept, we devised a test of a hemisphere in a
3D printed vacuum mould.
Fixture Plate: To the address the issues that became apparent in the first proof of concept, a
universal fixture plate was designed. The plate was designed to be fixturable using t- slots or
a vice. A pocket was placed in the centre of the plate where the 3D printed fixture would sit
on a .5” lip. Beneath the lip was placed another small pocket connected via a hole in the side
of the fixture to a vacuum. This pocket was designed to disperse the vacuum to the through
holes in the bottom of the 3D printed fixture.
3D Printing Materials Testing: compare two common FDM 3D printing filaments to
determine which had attributes that were most beneficial for the application of 3D printed
work holding. PLA and ABS samples were printed.
Part Coating Materials Testing: several test were conducted to determine if a material existed
that could potentially seal the print to the plate and seal the print itself. Three easily
accessible and affordable substances were selected: spray paint, XTC 3D (A commercially
available 3D print epoxy coating), and spray on Plastidip. A test of each materials effect on
the permeability of the 3D printed part and its ability to hold a vacuum was conducted.
Vacuum Test: Five 2” OD hollow cylinders with wall thickness of 1/4” and 1/4”-20 threaded
ports at one end were printed out of PLA at a resolution of 0.2 mm layer height and 80%
infill. The ports were attached to a vacuum pump. Each of the five samples was brought to a
pressure of at least -28 in Hg or when the reading on the pressure gauge stabilized. Once the
pressure was stable, the ball valve was closed, separating the vacuum from the system.
Pressure could at this point only escape from the printed part. The threaded port in the sample
was fully sealed so that a only negligible amount of air could escape at the connection. A
timer was set to record the time for each sample from the time that the ball valved closed to
the time at which the gauge read 5 in.-Hg. Figure 20 shows a summary of the results of that
test.
ANALYSIS:
Coefficient of Static Friction: Test It was decided that the coefficient of static friction would
be important for a vacuum workholding device. A greater coefficient of friction would
correspond to a fixtures ability to withstand larger forces in the x and y axis. A 500g mass was
placed on the back of each sample as a way of increasing the normal force for a more accurate
result. The sample was then connected to a hanging mass via a pulley and string. The mass on the
string was increased until the sample moved across the surface.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of each test, the team was able to select Plastidip as the coating with the most
promising properties for vacuum workholding. Plastidip has an average static coefficient of friction
of each measured side of .615 compared to the next best of .345 with spray paint. Additionally plasti
dip received a relatively high score for the times vacuum trials of 21.32 seconds without a vacuum
while the coating was applied and 129.35 seconds with a vacuum when the coating was applied. It
was noted after the coating layer thickness tests, that the change in the geometry of any part was
negligible.