Numerical Control Programming System for Mill-Turn Machining

Abstract

To develop the numerical control program of mill-turn machine, the traditional method is to apply the computer-aided design and manufacture software to construct the geometric model, then to generate tool path and convert the path to NC program. For complex numerical control program of mill-turn machine, such as the multiple turret synchronized motion machining, because of the need to control time sequence, the NC program is highly required on using of dedicated software system. The objective of this paper is to establish a mill-turn machining system with window interface of via the language of Borland C++ Builder. The developed system can plan the machining path of simple mill-turn features, including turning shape, axial slot milling, and radial packet milling, and generate the corresponding NC program. For the milling functions, after the offset coordinates are calculated along the polygonal angle vector in the center point of cutters, the NC program is generated. For the turning functions, through importing the 2D DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) file and inputting related configurations, the entity coordinates can be retrieved and the corresponding NC program is then converted. By means of the solid cutting simulation software and practical cutting experiment for the generated numerical control program, the accuracy of the tool path generation algorithm is confirmed. Hence, the cost of purchasing commercial software can be saved and the time of generating program can also be decreased so that the working efficiency can be enhanced.