Study On Robot Roller Hemming Process And System

Robot roller hemming is a very important assembly method for closures inautomotive bodies. Hemming is an assembly process by plastic deformation whichconsists of bending the edge of one sheet, called the outer panel, over the edge ofanother, called the inner panel. In robot roller hemming, such process is carried outby roll hemming tool mounted on the industrial robot. Compare to traditionalhemming, roller hemming is more flexible.The outer appearance of the vehicle is greatly influenced by hemming quality.The panel used in roller hemming is discussed, hemming process analysis weregiven. By using FEA (finite element analysis) method, mechanism of rollerhemming was investigated and simulated, different hemming parameters werestudied. Some of the defects (i.e. wave pattern, roll-in) were discussed. Suggestionswere given on process of both per-hemming and final hemming to improve thehemming quality.The design and integration of robot roller hemming system was studied.Different hemming tools were analyzed by comparison. Roller hemming system andprocess was modeled and simulated on a3D process simulation platform, and robotoff-line programming can be also conducted on the platform.