On the issues of that the traditional determination method of clamping force has a large error in calculation and failed to guide the construction design of clamping device effectively, the actual application condition of forging manipulator was analyzed and the difference between the theoretical analysis and the practical application was determined to work out a jaw’s mechanical model based on the forging manipulator’s clamping analysis in workpiece’s allowable downward deflection condition. The jaw clamping force in both vertical and horizontal conditions was analyzed with the mechanical model and the clamping force formula of jaw in any rotation angle was established to work out the jaw’s minimum stable clamping force to the workpiece when the forging manipulator meets the workpiece’s downward deflection condition. With the example of the 300 kN forging manipulator’s structure parameters, the jaw clamping force of clamping device was worked out based on the research results, a virtual prototype of the forging manipulator’s claw beam in ADAMS environment was built, and the motion simulation was processed. The analysis result showed the validity of clamping force calculation theory.
