Lightweight construction of hydraulic clamping devices processed by SLM
Objectives
The project is about a technical and economic study for the feasibility of a base body for a hydraulic clamping fixture by using the advantages of the SLM process. So far the fixture is made in several machining steps out of one solid piece of steel.
Procedure
To achieve the advantage of weight reduction and higher stiffness of the clamping system, the complete part had to be redesigned. Several iterative topology optimization steps had to be calculated considering geometry, stiffness and collision restrictions. In addition, the production costs of the fixture system made by SLM process were compared with the conventional process.
Achievements
Due to the fact the clamping device lost after the optimization around 58% of weight, the dynamic and inertial forces on the milling machine decrease significantly. That has a positive effect on the weight and stiffness of the whole milling module.
- Weight reduction: - 58 %
