An efficiency and quality based automatic drilling-riveting system for aero-structures assembly

Considering the constantly increasing demand for aircraft products, the development of automatic drilling-riveting machine tool systems is discussed in this paper. A structural conceptual design method considering both efficiency and quality is proposed. Particularly, a drilling-riveting machine tool system including single-column machine tool, light-weight end-effector, and assisting fixture system is built. The positioning error coordinates variation model is analyzed, and the ranges of reasonable processing parameters are determined. An experiment is conducted on the developed system to show satisfactory drilling-riveting quality and efficiency: compared with the position error of other similar systems, the position error with 0.082 mm is reduced by 41.42%, and the accuracy of aperture reaches H8, the rivets head height error ≤0.8 mm, and drilling and riveting efficiency can reach 6/min and 8/min.