Development of tool-path generation module for 5-axis control machining of impellers

An impeller is difficult to machine because of severe collision due to the complex shape,overlapping and twisted shape of the impeller blades.So,most computer aided manufacturing(CAM)software companies have developed CAM module for manufacturing impeller according to their CAM software.But these dedicated modules are difficult to use for inexperienced users.The purpose of this work is to develop a tool-path generation module for impellers.For this purpose,it is based on Visual Basic language and used CATIA graphical environment.The result of simulation for generated tool-path by the module is satisfactory.And it has slow processing speed compared to other commercial modules,but it is easy to use.

Generation of tool path for flank milling in divided areas

Presents the division of non developable ruled surface into divided small areas and flank milling in these divided areas to improve machining efficiency and machined surface quality by controlling the machining error for each area, and the algorithms developed for generation of tool path and calculation of errors, and concludes from computer simulation results that the algorithms are correct.

GENERATION METHOD FOR FIVE-AXIS NC SPIRAL TOOL PATH BASED ON PARAMETRIC SURFACE MAPPING

A new spiral tool path generation algorithm for 5-axis high speed machining is proposed in this paper.Firstly,the voltage contours are calculated to satisfy the machining parameters in the mapping parametric domain by means of the electrostatic field model of partial differential equations.Secondly,the mapping rules are constructed and the machining trajectory is planned out in the standard parametric domain in order to map and generate the spiral trajectory in the corresponding parametric domain.Finally,this trajectory is mapped onto the parametric surface for the obtainment of the spiral tool path.This spiral tool path can realize the machining of complicated parametric surface and trimmed surface without tool retractions.The above-mentioned algorithm has been implemented in several simulations and validated successfully through the actual machining of a complicated cavity.The results indicate that this method is superior to the existing machining methods to realize the high speed machining of the complicate-shaped cavity based on parametric surface and trimmed surface.

Dual Drive Curve Tool Path Planning Method for 5-axis NC Machining of Sculptured Surfaces

The problem of finished surface being not first-order continuous commonly exists in machining sculptured surfaces with a torus cutter and some other types of cutters. To solve this problem, a dual drive curve tool path planning method is proposed in this article. First, the maximum machining strip width of a whole tool path can be obtained through optimizing each tool position with multi-point machining （MPM） method. Second, two drive curves are then determined according to the obtained maximum machining strip width. Finally, the tool is positioned once more along the dual drive curve under the condition of tool path smoothness. A computer simulation and cutting experiments are carried out to testify the performance of the new method. The machined surface is measured with a coordinate measuring machine （CMM） to examine the machining quality. The results obtained show that this method can effectively eliminate sharp scallops between adjacent tool paths, keep tool paths smooth, and improve the surface machining quality as well as machining efficiency.

Tool Orientation Optimization and Path Planning for 5-Axis Machining

Tool path generation is a fundamental problem in 5-axis CNC machining, which consists of tool orientation planning and cutter-contact(CC) point planning. The planning strategy highly depends on the type of tool cutters. For ball-end cutters, the tool orientation and CC point location can be planned separately;while for flat end cutters, the two are highly dependent on each other. This paper generates a smooth tool path of workpiece surfaces for flat end mills from two stages: Computing smooth tool orientations on the surface without gouging and collisions and then designing the CC point path. By solving the tool posture optimization problem the authors achieve both the path smoothness and the machining efficiency. Experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness of the method.

基于MMR的三角网格曲面五轴加工刀轨生成算法

为了提高三角网格曲面五轴加工的加工效率,提出了基于最大材料去除率(maximal materialremoval rate,MMR)的平底刀五轴加工刀轨生成算法。首先计算无曲率干涉且具有最大材料去除率的网格曲面五轴加工的刀具方位角;然后在确定网格曲面可能干涉区域的基础上,提出刀触点处干涉性假设,并以最大材料去除率、刀具无曲率干涉和全局干涉为约束条件,采用二分法确定具有最大材料去除率的无干涉刀具方位角;最后采用截面线法生成三角网格曲面MMR平底刀五轴加工刀轨。通过实验验证了采用文中算法生成的刀轨进行加工能够获得较高的加工效率和表面质量。