Reverse Design and Manufacturing of a Double Wolf Head Model Based on 3D Printing and Five-Axis Machining

Abstract

The design and machining technology of curved and irregular surfaces has always been an important subject in the field of engineering. In the product design process, sequential design and reverse design approaches each have their own characteristics in the field of modeling. This paper puts forward a sequential/reverse hybrid modeling method based on combined Geomagic Wrap, Geomagic Design X and UG in order to improve the efficiency of modeling. The method takes into consideration the characteristics of both sequential and reverse designs and brings out their advantages. With the “double wolf head” model of complex structures as the object of study, the “double wolf head” is re-developed and remanufactured based on 3D printing and five-axis machining combined with reverse design, and data from the model are collected using a three-dimensional scanner and Geomagic Wrap. Reverse engineering to parametric modeling is generated using Geomagic Design X; this solid model is then imported to the 3D printing and slicing software Cura and the multi-axis programming software hyperMILL, respectively, before machining, and the 3D printing model and the five-axis machining model are obtained. This method explores a new approach to part modeling, which vastly improves the machining precision and accuracy of model data, accurately perceives the real size of an object and is of great significance to shorten product development cycle times.