Development and production of welding end-effectors

Abstract

This report deals with the development and production of welding end-effectors and jigs for the integration of stiffening parts like stringers, frames, frame-couplings, cleats and clips for the assembly of the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) upper shell using ultrasonic spot welding (USW), continuous ultrasonic welding (CUW) and resistance welding technology (RW). For this purpose, customized welding end-effectors mounted to industrial robots as well as stand-alone welding jigs, like the welding bridge (WB) were designed in order to fulfil the requirements on quality assured, repeatable and robust part integration. Special focus was set on high flexibility of the assembly jigs and processes in order to overcome with the challenges of single part tolerances and its compensation during assembly.