A Digital Twin system of reconfigurable tooling for monitoring and evaluating in aerospace assembly

Abstract

Assembly tooling is essential equipment in aircraft production. Reconfigurable tooling can adapt to multiple aircraft products by reorganizing modular components. Its service state directly determines the final quality, production cycle, and economic cost of the aircraft assembly. This research developed a reusable Digital Twin (DT) system for reconfigurable tooling to monitor and evaluate its service state. A virtual entity of the DT system is established, containing geometric, physical, behavioral, and rule models. Particularly, both geometric-material similarity and individuality of tooling modules are considered, and calibration parameters are introduced into the behavioral model to ensure the consistency between the virtual and the physical entities. Rules governing positioning deviation identification, assembly sequence, and bolt tightening angle are also included in the rule model, so that the indicative processing data is supplied to evaluate the service state of the tooling and guide the assembly process. The high accuracy and generalizability of the developed DT system for monitoring and evaluating the service state of the tooling are verified by assembly experiments.