Abstract
Sculpted surfaces are widely used in engineering applications in industries like aerospace, automotive and medical. Commonly, these types of surfaces are manufactured by the process of 5-axis CNC machining. 5-axis machining improves the effectiveness and reduction in machining times compared to the 3-axis process, but also increases the complexity of the operations. This paper presents a four-axis toolpath generation gouging free methodology as an alternative to the five-axis machining to reduce the complexity of the process, maintaining similar benefits respect to conventional three-axis machining. Rolling ball method is first applied to compute the most suitable tool for the surface and prevent gouging. A process procedure is the carried out to optimize the tool fixed position and compute tool location at each cutter contact point of the surface. The results show the effectiveness of the method in terms of reducing machining time and maintaining similar surface finishing compared with three-axis machining. The method can be used as a cost-effective option for multi-axis machining.
Highlights
Freeform surfaces, called sculptured surfaces are commonly used to produce components in aerospace, automotive and medical industry [1]–[3]
In 5-axis machining, the tool orientation can be adapted at each contact point to have a better approximation of the surface geometry leaving small cusps of the desired surface [4]
Different to other methods that used the criteria of curvature matching, to optimize tool orientation, infinitesimal machining volume (IMV) and infinitesimal machining area (IMA) are presented to increase material removal and reducing tool path length
Summary
Called sculptured surfaces are commonly used to produce components in aerospace, automotive and medical industry [1]–[3] These surfaces are designed to meet aesthetic or functional requirements and are usually produced using 3- and 5-axis machining. Roman et al [7] extended the application of the RBM to generate tool path planning and tool orientation strategies for 3+2-axis machining. These methodologies use local geometry data to determine the tool position and tool orientation along the path for each surface partitioning, reducing gouging possibilities. Different to other methods that used the criteria of curvature matching, to optimize tool orientation, infinitesimal machining volume (IMV) and infinitesimal machining area (IMA) are presented to increase material removal and reducing tool path length. Liu et al [2] implemented configuration space method for efficient tool positioning with emphasis in local gouging avoidance using a flat-end mill and torus mill for point clouds
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