Description of Chassis Welding Jig Assignment
- Tommy Tran
A jig is defined as “a device that holds a piece of work and guides the tools operating on it” by Oxford Languages.
After the Chassis has been designed, the tubes are usually supplied and cut by a supplier. The team receives the Chassis tubes as numbered individual pieces that will need to be welded together to form the designed Chassis. The image below shows the Chassis for MSXIV which is made up of 76 tubes (this iteration was finalized in the Fall term 2019).
The challenge is then to design and manufacture jigs for welding the Chassis together. Huge preference is given to designs that saves time and money. Welding is completed by the E3 Machine Shop welders.
The general steps in order to complete the Chassis includes the following considerations:
Design Jig and Tube Clamps
Manufacture Jig and Tube Clamps
Assemble Tubes with Jig and Tube Clamps
Deliver Assembly to Welders for Welding (Ask welders to only to tack the joints)
Repeat Steps 1-4 Until Entire Chassis is Welded (Tacked)
Deliver Entire Chassis to be Fully Welded
Important Requirement Given by Welders!!!
Joints (where tubes meet) must be fully accessible to the welder. Imagine a welder is trying to stick a pen in order to touch the interfacing areas around the ENTIRE joint. This means you should leave a minimum of a 1 inch diameter sphere of open access around each joint.
Before delivering the assembled jig to the welders, make sure to sand the areas of the tube that will be interfacing areas in order to remove the black oxide layer on top of the 4130 Chromoly Steel Tubes that are used. There should be at least half an inch of exposed distance from the interfacing area that will be welded.
The Welding Jig Task List used for MSXIV: