Patent ID: 11858661
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B

Claim 13:
14. A method of manufacturing a panel assembly, comprising:
supporting a panel assembly in a free state using a holding fixture, the panel assembly comprising a skin panel, and sacrificial material coupled to a skin panel inner surface respectively at interface locations for coupling the panel assembly to mating structure;
acquiring a free state outer surface contour of the panel assembly by scanning a skin panel outer surface of the skin panel while the panel assembly is supported by the holding fixture;
developing a numerical control (NC) machining program having cutter paths configured for machining the interface locations to an inner surface contour that is based on the free state outer surface contour;
machining the sacrificial material by moving a cutter along the cutter paths while the panel assembly is supported by the holding fixture, and while the cutter is backed by a backing device applying backing pressure against the skin panel outer surface while the backing device moves in a coordinated manner in alignment with the cutter as the cutter moves along the cutter paths on the opposite side of the skin panel;
removing the panel assembly from the holding fixture; and
indexing the panel assembly and the mating structure to each other, and fastening the panel assembly and the mating structure together to result in a structural assembly.