[Kon-15.

126] Konepajatekniikan vaihtuva/Production Technology, special topics

FIXTURE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING

(LECTURE ON MARCH 18, 2004)

Laboratory of Production Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Zhizhong Yan

TEKNILLINEN KORKEAKOULU

TEKNISKA HÖGSKOLAN

HELSINKI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT HELSINKI

UNIVERSITE DE TECHNOLOGIE D’HELSINKI

TABLE OF CONTANTS

1 WHAT IS A FIXTURE.............................................................................................2

2 FUNCTIONS OF FIXTURES..................................................................................4

3 BASIC COMPONENTS OF A TYPICAL FIXTURE...........................................5

4 THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FIXTURE DESIGN ............................................7

4.1 LOCATING PRINCIPLE.....................................................................................7

4.1.1 Six-point locating principle ...........................................................................7

4.1.2 Underlocating and overlocating...................................................................10

4.2 CLAMPING PRINCIPLE ..................................................................................11

4.2.1 The basic requirements of the clamping design...........................................12

4.2.2 Selection of clamping direction ...................................................................12

4.2.3 Selection of clamping position ....................................................................13

4.2.4 Determination of clamping –force magnitude .............................................15

4.2.5 Types of clamps ...........................................................................................15

5 INTRUDUCTION OF DIFFERENT FIXTURES ...............................................18

5.1 GENERAL-PURPOSE FIXTURES...................................................................19

5.2 DEDICATED FIXTURES .................................................................................21

5.3 FLEXIBLE FIXTURES .....................................................................................24

5.4 VACUUM CLAMPING FIXTURES ................................................................29

5.5 ELECTROMAGNETIC CLAMPING FIXTURES ...........................................30

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1 WHAT IS A FIXTURE

Let us first see an example workpiece, as shown in Figure 1. A key slot will be machined
in a shaft, and the required dimensions and specifications are as followings: slot length
285 mm, slot width 12H8, slot depth 64 mm, and the symmetry to datum A is 0.02mm,
the parallelism of the slot bottom to B is 0.1mm.

Figure 1. Milling a key way on a shaft.

In all these dimensions and specifications, only the slot width depends on the width of the
cutting tool, and the others depend on the relative positions between the workpiece and
the cutting tool, and between the workpiece and the cutting movements. The correct
position is as shown in Figure 1 (b): (1) The symmetry plane D of the ¯70h6 shaft
coincides with the symmetry plane C of the cutting tool. (2) The distance between the

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generatrix B of the shaft and the cutting edge F is 64mm. (3) The generatrix B is parallel
to the cutting movement in horizontal and vertical. (4) When cutting stops, the distance
between the cutting tool and the end of the shaft is L.

In order to get the qualified components, the workpieces must be positioned in this
correct position. So, we need a device to hold the workpiece in this correct position and
orientation in the machining tool. This device having this function is a fixture. The
fixture is as shown in Figure 2, a dedicated fixture for milling the key slot.

Figure 2. The fixture for milling a key way on a shaft.

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The fixture is composed of: 1---fixture body, 2---orienting key, 3---V block, 4---clamp,
5---lever, 6---cam, 7---draw bar, 8---screw, 9---cam shaft, 10---tool aligning component,
11---handle.

Working principle of the fixture: Workpiece is placed on two V-blocks and one end of
the shaft is against the screw. This is the correct workpiece position. Then turn handle 11,
by the cam shaft 9 rotate the cam 6 which presses down the lever 5, and in the same time
pull down the two draw bar 7 so that the two clamps hold the workpiece at this position
to ensure the workpiece position is fixed during machining.

Therefore, a fixture is a device used in machining, inspection, assembly, welding, and

other manufacturing operations to locate and hold a workpiece firmly in position so that
the required manufacturing processes can be carried out corresponding to design
specifications.

2 FUNCTIONS OF FIXTURES

From the above example and definition about fixture, we can see that fixtures have the
following basic functions:

1. Ensuring stable machining accuracy.

This is the most important task of fixture design to ensure the positional accuracy and
relative dimensional accuracy of machining surfaces in each setup, as shown the
dimensions, 285mm, 64mm, and the symmetry 0.02, parallelism 0.1, in the example
workpiece are guaranteed by fixture design and installation. Fixture is installed on the
worktable of the machine tool by locating and clamping, as shown the example fixture.
The fixture is located on the machine table by the bottom plane of fixture body and the
two orienting keys, and fixed by T-nut screws. And the workpiece is correctly located
and clamped in the fixture. Due to the fixture position in the machine tool and the
workpiece position in the fixture have been determined, the relative positions between
the workpiece and the cutting tool and between the workpiece and cutting movements are
determined either. Therefore, the accuracy can be ensured.

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2. Ensuring high productivity.

Fixture is designed for easy load and unload of workpieces, utilization of automated or
semiautomated clamping devices, easy chip disposal. Of course, the selections of these
fixture functions are greatly determined by the lot size of the product. In job production,
fixturing flexibility is desired, usually modular fixtures and other general-purpose
fixtures are used. In mass production, productivity is important, it is reasonable to design
and fabricate dedicated fixtures with good performance. In batch production, fixturing
strategy may vary in different application. Modular fixtures and adjustable fixtures are
often used for certain flexibility and other fixturing performances.

3. Ensuring Operation Convenience and Safety.

Fixture is designed to be convenient for loading and unloading workpieces, convenient

for machining chip disposal, convenient for measurement (workpiece dimensions) and
adjustment operations (relative position between cutting tool and the workpiece).

4. Extend the manufacturing ability of machine tool.

Such as install a boring jig on the saddle of the lathe or on the table of a radial drilling
machine to bore holes in a box-type workpiece, instead of boring machine.

3 BASIC COMPONENTS OF A TYPICAL FIXTURE

Commonly, a fixture is composed of the following components or units: locators, clamps,

supports, connectors, tool-guiding components, fixture body and other components or
devices.

1. Locators

In the example fixture as shown in Figure 2, the locators are two V- blocks 3 and a screw
8. From this fixture we can see that:

Locators are directly in contact with the workpiece, and used to determine the workpiece
position and orientation in the fixture.

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2. Clamps

Clamps are used for securing the workpiece in the located position under machining and
other external forces. In this fixture, a cam clamp is applied.

3. Supports

Supports are used to minimize deflection and distortion of the workpiece caused by the
machining and clamping forces and sometimes its own weight. Because it is not used to
constrain the degree of freedom of the workpiece, support must be positioned at the point
on the workpiece, where the support can effectively minimize the deflection and
distortion of the workpiece, or the contact deformation of the workpiece surface without
interference with accuracy of location.

4. Connecting units

Connecting units are structural components in the fixture design, and used to support
other functional components (including locators, supports and clamps) and connect them
to the fixture body.

In this fixture design, the connecting units include draw bar 7, lever 5, cam and shaft.

5. Tool-guiding and aligning components

Tool-guiding and aligning component is used to locate the cutting tool position relative to
the workpiece. Commonly used in conventional machine tools, such as the tool-aligning
component 10 in Figure 2. Before machining one batch of workpieces or after changing
cutting tool, adjust the cutting tool position by applying the tool aligning component and
plug gauge. In machining center, this fixturing function is performed by using NC motion
control.

6. Fixture body

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Fixture body is a fixture base upon which all other fixture components are assembled. In
the same time, it is placed on the machine table to locate and secure the whole fixture on
the machine table. In this fixture, component 1 is the fixture body.

7. Others

Other fixture components such as handles, fastening components (such as bolts, nuts, and
washers), and the fixture devices or components designed according to the special
requirements of the fixture, such as index devices, and so on.

4 THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FIXTURE DESIGN

Here, we introduce the most basic principles of fixture design: locating principle and
clamping principle.

4.1 Locating principle

4.1.1 Six-point locating principle

Figure 3. Six degrees of freedom of a workpiece.

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For a rigid workpiece in space, there are six degrees of freedom describing the position
and orientation of the workpiece, as shown in Fig. 3. They are three linear motions (along
x axis, y axis, and z axis) X, Y, and Z, and three rotational motions (around x axis, y axis,
and z axis) αx, αy, αz.

Fixture design is to constrain all or part of the six DOFs so that the workpiece position
and orientation can be uniquely determined in the fixture. How can we constrain the six
DOFs of the workpiece in a fixture? The most typical method is to set six locating pins in
a fixture, which are in contact with the workpiece, as shown in Fig. 4. The six contact
points between the workpiece and the locators are configured in three mutually
perpendicular planes A, B, and C on the workpiece, where three points in contact with
the bottom surface A of the workpiece constrain 3 DOFs (Z, αx, αy,), which is called the
primary locating datum, two points in contact with the left-side plane B constrain 2 DOFs
(X, and αz), which is called the secondary locating datum, and one point in contact with
the back C constrain the last DOF (Y), which is called the tertiary locating datum. This is
the 3-2-1 locating principle.

Figure 4. The six-point locating principle.

So, the six-point locating principle is: the 6 DOFs of a workpiece in a fixture can be
constrained by reasonably distributed 6 points, everyone of which can constrain one
DOF. For the primary locating datum, the area of the triangle formed by the three

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locating points should be as large as possible. For the secondary locating datum, the
distance between the two locating points is as large as possible, and the line segment
connecting the two locating points should be parallel to the primary locating datum if
possible.

In the example fixture in Figure 2, two V-blocks in contact with the workpiece constrain
four degrees of freedom of the workpiece, Y, Z, and αy, αz, a screw in contact with the
end of the shaft constrains one DOF, X. So, the workpiece is partially constrained, and
the DOF of the workpiece, αx, is not restrained.

From the above two examples, Figure 2 and Figure 4, the configuration of the 6 points
may vary in different ways for different workpieces. But to constrain the workpiece
DOFs completely, six points are still necessary. Figure 5 presents another example of
cylindrical workpiece, where the cylindrical surface is in contact with 4 locators to
constrain 4 DOFs (X, Z, αx, αz), the point in the back constrain 1 DOF (Y), and the last
point in the slot constrain the rotation about Y axis (αy).

Figure 5. A variation of the six-point locating principle.

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4.1.2 Underlocating and overlocating

When all the six DOFs of a workpiece are constrained, it is a complete locating, whereas
when less than six DOFs are constrained, it is underlocating. If the underlocated DOF
does not affect the production accuracy, underlocating is permitted in real production.
Such as in Figure 2, according to the characteristic of the workpiece (symmetry of the
workpiece), the DOF around the X-axis is not necessary to be constrained. Therefore, 5
DOFs are constrained.

If more than one point is used to restrict one DOF repeatedly, it is overlocating. Figure 6
(a) shows an example of overlocating of a connecting rod. Three locators are used, a long
pin which constrains four DOFs (X, Y, αx, and αy), a flat fixture base which restrains
three DOFs (Z, αx, and αy), and a side pin which constrains one DOF (αz). There are two
DOFs overconstrained: αx, and αy. In this situation, if there were no perpendicular error
between long pin and plate base, and between the small hole and the end plane of the
connecting rod, the overlocating would be allowed. However, because there are always
manufacturing errors between workpiece surfaces, and errors of fixture component
positions, the contact between the two objects are not stable and reliable. When clamping
forces are applied, workpiece deformation will present, which may make a significant
contribution to the machining error. To prevent the overlocating, either the long pin is
changed to a short pin, restricting only two DOFs (X, and Y) as shown in Figure 6 (b), or
the flat fixture base is changed into a small plane restricting only one DOF (Z) as shown
in Figure 6 (c). Therefore, in most cases overlocating is not allowed.

Under a certain condition, overlocating is allowed in production. For example, Fig. 7(a)
shows a workpiece supported by 4 locating pins for constraining 3 DOFs (Z, αx, αy).
Theoretically, one point is redundant. If the workpiece bottom surface is a premachined
surface and the workpiece size is relative large, this overlocating is preferred because it
provides a more stable support, and reduces the workpiece deformation under clamping
and machining forces. Figure 7(b) shows an alternative design for a four-point bottom
locating where a pair of parallel bars are used to support the workpiece.

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 Figure 6. Locating analysis of connecting rod.

Figure 7. Locating with a large planar surface.

4.2 Clamping principle

In the fixture as shown in Figure 2, the cam clamping device is mainly composed of two
clamps 4, two springs, two draw bars 7, lever 5, cam 6, cam shaft 9, handle 11. Rotate the
handle the two workpieces are clamped on the four V-blocks.

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4.2.1 The basic requirements of the clamping design

As we described above, the main purpose of the clamping is to securely hold the
workpiece against the locators throughout the machining cycle. The basic requirements
of clamping devices includes the followings:

1. After clamping the workpiece should keep in contact with the locators so that the
location is ensured.

2. The clamping force should be sufficient for resisting the machining force and other
forces so that the workpiece will not change its position and vibration will not appear,
but the clamping force should not be so great that the workpiece surfaces are damaged
or workpiece deformation is significant.

3. The clamping operation should be simple, time saving, safe, and easy for workpiece
loading and unloading, especially no impact to the workpiece, machine tool
components, and cutting tools.

4. The complexity of the clamping device should be suitable to the production type and
batch size. For example, in mass production and automated production, power-
activated clamps are widely used. In job or small-batch production, manually
operated clamping devices are normally used.

When designing a clamping device for a fixture, there are four aspects to be determined:
clamping direction, clamping position, amplitude of the clamping force, and the type of
clamping mechanisms.

4.2.2 Selection of clamping direction

Selection of the clamping direction should consider the following two rules:

1. The clamping direction should point to the primary locating surface when it is
possible. This is of benefit to keep the locating stability and accuracy, and to reduce

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 the workpiece deformation because the primary locating surface is larger and also has
a large contact area so that the clamping pressure in a unit area is not significant.

2. Proper selection of the clamping direction can lead to the smaller clamping force
required. As shown in Figure 8, Q is the clamping force, G is the gravity force of the
workpiece, and P is the cutting force. The clamping force required in the case (a) is
the smallest.

Figure 8. Clamping-force direction effect.

4.2.3 Selection of clamping position

Once the clamping direction is selected, the clamping position on the workpiece can be
chosen according to the following rules.

1. The clamping position should be against the locator or in the locating triangle region.

(1) Side-clamping, as shown in Fig. 9(a), if the clamping position (Q) is higher than the
side locator, a rotational moment will push the workpiece to leave the locating position,
the Q´ position against the locator is better.

(2) Top-clamping, as shown in Fig. 4. For the top clamping opposite to the primary
locating datum, each clamping position should be against locator or the projection of the
clamping position on the primary locating datum is in the locating triangle region, as
shown in Figure 9(b).

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 (a) (b)

Figure 9. Clamping position.

2. The clamps should always contact the workpiece at its most rigid point so that
without distorting the workpiece. Such as shown in Fig. 10.

3. The clamping position should be as close as possible to the cutting position in order to
increase the clamping reliability and reduce the vibration. Such as shown in Figure
11, auxiliary supporter is used.

Figure 10. Clamping position.

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 Figure 11. Clamping position.

4.2.4 Determination of clamping –force magnitude

The magnitude of clamping force is usually determined by considering the equilibrium

condition of the workpiece-fixture system under machining forces, clamping forces,
gravity of the workpiece, response forces and friction forces. Based on static equilibrium
equations, a theoretical clamping force (Q0) is calculated, the required clamping force (Q)
can be got by considering a safety coefficient (K). Therefore, Q = KQ0.

K= 2.5-3 for rough machining, K = 1.5-2.5 for finish machining.

4.2.5 Types of clamps

There are varieties of clamping devices. Based on the principles applied in these
clamping devices, there are several basic types of clamping devices.

1. Screw clamp. Screw-clamping devices are the most widely used mechanism in all
kinds of fixtures. As shown in Figure 12, turn the bolt or nut to clamp the workpiece.
(a) The end surface of a bolt 1 directly contacts the workpiece surface 4. In the
clamping operation, the relative motion of the clamping bolt to the workpiece surface
may damage the surface. A pressing block 5 can be applied to avoid workpiece

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 surface damage, which will not rotate in the clamping operation, as shown in (b). (c)
A nut is directly pressed on the workpiece surface.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 12. Screw clamps.

2. Wedge clamp. As shown in Figure 13, 2 is the workpiece, 3 is the locator, and 1 is the
clamping wedge mechanism. W0 is the external force applied in clamping operation.

Figure 13. Wedge clamp.

3. Cam clamp. As shown in Figure 14, where 1--- workpiece, 2---locator, 3---locator. 4--
-cam, 5---eccentric shaft. When the cam is clockwise rotated around the eccentric
shaft, the workpiece is clamped, and counterclockwise rotated the workpiece is
loosened.

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 Figure 14. Cylindrical cam clamp.

4. Strap clamp. As shown in Figure 15, their basic operation is the same as that of a
lever. which is operated by either manual or power-driven devices. Manual devices
include screw or cam fastening mechanisms. Power devices include hydraulic or
pneumatic systems.

Figure 15. Strap clamps with a screw-fastening mechanism.

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5 INTRUDUCTION OF DIFFERENT FIXTURES

In industries there are various kinds of fixtures. According to three basic features,
classify all of the fixtures as show in Figure 16.

Figure 16. Types of fixtures.

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5.1 General-purpose fixtures

General-purpose fixtures include machine vise, lathe chucks, indexing heads, and so on.
They can be used in machining different workpieces by adjusting their elements to the
required size.

1. Machine vises. There are different kinds of machine vises, as shown in Figure 17. (a)
Standard swivel-base machine vise. (b) Variation of the standard vise. Standard
machine vises with special jaws provide an easy way of holding different shaped parts
for machining. They may be used with various types of machine tools.

(a)

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 (b)

Figure 17. Machine vises.

Figure 18. Chucks.

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2. Lathe chucks. There are different kinds of chucks, as shown Figure 18, (a) Three-jaw
chuck. (b) Four-jaw chuck.

The major characteristics of the general-purpose fixtures are as followings: (1) Good
universality. (2) Due to need adjusting for every workpiece, much time will be spent, so
low productivity and usually low accuracy. (3) Therefore, general-purpose fixtures are
only used in single-piece and small-lot production.

5.2 Dedicated fixtures

Dedicated fixtures are specially designed for one setup of one kind of workpieces, for
example,

1. Lathe fixture, as shown in Figure 19, a lathe fixture for boring a hole on a lever part.
The workpiece is located and clamped through a collet and a movable V-block. All
six DOFs are constrained.

2. Milling fixture, as shown in Figure 2, milling a key way on a shaft.

3. Drill jig, there are leaf jig, box jig, tumble jig, template jig, plate jig, indexing jig, and
universal or pump jig, and so on. Figure 20 shows an angle-plate jig. The workpiece
is located through its center hole and one end, and clamped by a screw.

4. Boring jig, in order to boring the two concentric holes φ35H7 and φ40H7 and in the
same setup drilling and reaming the two concentric holes φ20H7, as shown in Figure
21 (a), a boring jig is designed and manufactured, as shown in Figure 21 (b). The
boring jig is composed of fixture body 1, bushing supports 2 and 7, drill bushings 3
and 6, bore bushings 4 and 5, clamps 8, locating cylinder 9, and locating plate 10. The
workpiece is located through its bottom plane a, one side plane b, and one end, and
clamped by four clamps.

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Figure 19. A lathe fixture for boring a hole on a lever part.

Figure 20. An angle-plate jig.

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 (a)

(b)

Figure 21. A boring jig.

The characteristics of dedicate fixtures: (1) High accuracy, reasonable structural

combination, easy and quick operation. (2) Need long time for design and manufacturing
the fixture, and when product is changed, in most cases, the fixture will be discarded. (3)
Therefore, these fixtures are suitable for large-lot and mass production.

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5.3 Flexible fixtures

Due to the trend of products is toward wide variety and small lot size, the production
cycle becomes shorter and shorter. Manufacturers hope that fixtures are flexible and
reconfigurable so that they can adapt to the variation of product design. A number of
different methods have been proposed for flexible fixtures.

1. Modular fixtures. Modular fixtures consist of a set of prefabricated standard modular

components or elements that provide the fixture functions of locators, clamps,
supports, and fixture body, as shown a modular fixture assembly in Figure 22 (a). The
flexibility is derived from the different combinations of the large number of standard
components. Figure 22 (b) shows a example modular fixture, four self-aligning pads
are in contact with the primary locating datum to constrain 3 DOFs of the workpiece,
two cylinders are in contact with the secondary locating datum to constrain 2 DOFs,
and one cylindrical stop is in contact with the tertiary locating datum to constrain the
last one DOF. The workpiece is clamped by four strap clamps.

(a)

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 (b)

Figure 22. A modular fixture.

2. Phase-change fixtures. The flexibility of this fixture is derived from the use of a
medium that physically changes its phase from liquid to solid and back to liquid
again. The phase change of the medium material can be activated by means of
temperature, electrical or magnetic field. Typical operating process of this fixture
includes two steps: first, when the material is in fluid state, the workpiece is
immersed in the fluid. By altering certain conditions, the fluid is changed into solid
which holds the workpiece. Then, the workpiece is subjected to the desired operation.
After the operation, the workpiece can be removed from the fixture by changing the
material back to fluid status, the sequence of the process is as shown in Figure 23.
This encapsulation phase-change fixture is applied to machine the roots of turbine and
compressor blades. Figure 24 shows another phase-change fixture ---- fluidized bed
fixture. This fixture consists of a container filled with small particles over a porous

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floor through which an air stream passes at a carefully constrained rate. When the air
stream through the porous floor, the particles are suspended in the air stream and
therefore become quite loose. A workpiece can then be inserted into the container
without much difficulty. When the air supply is turned off, the particles compact
under gravitational force to form a solid mass which is capable of holding the
workpiece securely. Then the machining operations can be performed. After the
machining operations, the workpiece can be removed by releasing the compaction
load and fluidizing the medium. Because the process does not involve an actual
phase-change from fluid to solid and vice versa, this type of fixturing system is
classed as a pseudo phase-change fixture.

Figure 23. Encapsulation phase-change fixture.

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 Figure 24. A scheme of particulate fluidized bed fixture.

3. Programmable fixtures. This method is trying to construct or reconfigure fixtures

completely automatically. For example, Figure 25 shows a fixture using a matrix of
reconfigurable pins. A flat, rigid platen (lead-screw driven in this case) extends the
free-moving matrix of support pins to their highest position. As the platen slowly
descends, individual pins are fixed in position at a specified height (by pin clamping
device) based on a CAD model of the part shape to be fixtured. The matrix of pins is
reset for another part shape by slowly raising the platen and releasing each pin just
before the platen contacts the pin’s bottom end. Once the platen has reached the
highest pin position and stopped, the setting process is repeated. All the process is
controlled by a computer program. Figure 26 shows a double revolver type numerical
control clamping machine. This fixture consists of double revolvers serving as
locators and clamps. Each double revolver includes primary and secondary revolvers,
which can be turned independently by servo systems so that the different locating and
clamping positions can be achieved by combining the rotations of the primary and
secondary revolvers. A NC program contains instructions for selecting the revolvers

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and setting them up to position the workpiece so that the configuration of the fixture
can be constructed by executing the NC program.

Figure 25. RFD concept diagram shown in pin setting mode.

Figure 26. Double revolver type numerical control clamping machine.

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5.4 Vacuum clamping fixtures

The working principle of vacuum clamping devices is that the suction created between
the workpiece and the rubber O-ring draws the workpiece down to the solid chuck
surface, as shown in Figure 27. Figure 27 (a) is the unclamping state, where workpiece,
the rubber ring B and the fixture body form a sealing chamber A. Then, through channel
C the chamber is sucked by a vacuum pump, and gets a certain degree of vacuum. Due to
the atmospheric pressure acting on, workpiece locating datum is firmly in contact with
the locator. The clamping force can be calculated:

Q = S (PA - PO) - PM

Where S is the area enclosed by ring B in the chamber, PA is the atmospheric pressure, PO
is the residual pressure in the chamber, generally PO = 0.01-0.015MPa, PM is the reaction
force of the rubber ring.

Figure 27. The working principle of vacuum clamping devices.

Figure 28 shows a vacuum clamping fixture. It consists of the round polymer pods 1, pod
plate 2, and vacuum supply unit. When not in use all pods are stored inside the hollows of
the pod plate. When in use the pods protrude out of the pod plate by simply flipping them
over. By a controlled vacuum supply the workpiece remains in the correct position at all
times during machining.

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 Figure 28. Vacuum clamping fixture.

5.5 Electromagnetic clamping fixtures

The use of a magnetic system enables the workpiece to be positioned on a magnetic

surface that acts both as a mechanical reference and as a clamping area.

Figure 29 shows an electromagnetic clamping fixture. The invertible double magnetic

system comprises a series of independent square poles in a chess board arrangement. The
electric power is only used for a few second to active the electropermanent magnetic
system or deactivate the magnet. In the MAG the workpiece is held exclusively by the
force of the high-energy permanent magnets that surround each of the square generator
poles.

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Figure 29. An electromagnetic clamping fixture.

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