Selection of an optimal set of cutting-tool sizes for 212D pocket machining

✍ Scribed by Dharmaraj Veeramani; Yuh-Shying Gau

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 936 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-4485
• DOI: 10.1016/s0010-4485(97)00042-0

✦ Synopsis

The availability of high speed automatic tool change mechanisms in modem CNC machining centers is making it practical to consider the use of multiple cutting-tool (specifically, flat end-mill) sizes to reduce the total time for machining a 24D pocket. However, current CAD/CAM systems do not support pocket machining using multiple cutting-tool sizes. In this paper, we describe a two-phase methodology for selecting an optimal set of cutting-tool sizes to machine a 24D pocket. In the first phase, we employ a new concept called the Voronoi mountain in order to calculate the material volume that can be removed by a specific cutting-tool size, the material volume that will subsequently remain to be machined, and the cutter-paths (and corresponding processing times) for each cutting-tool. In the second phase, we apply a dynamic programming approach for optimal selection of cutting-tool sizes on the basis of the processing time. Our computational experiments indicate that substantial savings in processing time can be achieved by using multiple cutting-tool sizes to machine 2iD pockets.