A novel CNC machining method for enveloping surface

Abstract

The enveloping surface is formed of characteristic lines (also called contact line) at all different enveloping moment, a novel CNC (computerized numerical control) machining method based on enveloping characteristic for enveloping surface is proposed in this study. In the proposed method, the characteristic line is the machining unit, the CNC machining is driven by the characteristics lines, the CNC machining tool path distribution along the characteristics lines rather than the traditional CNC machining tool path such as contour layered,etc. In addition, the envelope characteristic automatic recognition algorithm and kinematics model of CNC machining are proposed to achieve the CNC machining based on enveloping characteristic. Finally, the proposed CNC machining method and traditional CNC machining method for single-enveloping surface and double-enveloping surface are conducted as, for instance, the machining experiment results confirm that the proposed methodology enables the machining precision and efficiency to be successfully improved. Hence, the novel CNC machining method proposed in this study is an effective technology to further improve the machining precision and efficiency of enveloping surface.