Attractive Fixture System Based on Magnetic Field and Friction Force for Numerically Controlled Machining of Paper Honeycomb Core

Abstract

In order to improve the precision of machining and reduce the processing cost of paper honeycomb core, a new method is presented to fix the honeycomb core work piece to the working platform using magnetic and frictional forces. In this method, iron powder is used as a medium instead of the traditional adhesive-based material to achieve the bonding between the work piece and the working platform. Iron powder is poured into honeycomb cells until it reaches the desired height using a numerically controlled iron powder feeder system. In addition, a magnetic working platform is manufactured and placed on top of the station of the milling machine. The magnetic field produced by the magnetic working platform is leaded to the iron powder while the magnetic field control system switches on. More precisely, the mutual magnetic attraction between the iron powders located in different cells of the honeycomb and between the iron powder and the platform is generated. While cutting force is applied to the work piece, two types of friction force occur. One is between the iron powder and the wall of the honeycomb cells, and other one is between the work piece and the working platform. Once the resultant friction force balances the machining load, the work piece will be then fixed to the platform. In this paper, a new bonding system based on the new method is introduced and demonstrated.