The traditional positioning and clamping technology can’t meet the requirement of accurate

efficient and agile manufacturing for airplane pipes with various types

large quantity and complicated shapes. This paper focused on the digital and flexible positioning and clamping technology for airplane pipes. Three digital positioning methods for airplane pipes

including an array positioning jig

a passively reconfigurable jig and an actively reconfigurable jig

are proposed. The study offered a solution for digital positioning

clamping accurately and efficiently for pipes

to shorten preporing cycle for pipe manufacturing and reduce cost.