High performance manufacturing of complex surfaces using inverse cutting profiles and NC verification of virtual models

Byline: Yongfu Ren, Yuan-Shin Lee, Wen-Teng Wang This paper presents an Inverse Cutting Profile (ICP) method to construct Generalised CL (GCL) surfaces with generalised endmill cutters for high performance machining of polyhedral models. The inverse cutting profiles are constructed as the silhouettes of an inverse cutter projected from the tool's instantaneous cutting direction. By utilising the inverse cutting profiles, Generalised CL (GCL) surfaces can be generated by the swept envelope of the inverse tool moving along the part surface. Accurate tool paths are generated by slicing the constructed GCL surfaces with guide planes. Techniques of NC verification based on the virtual simulation model are also presented in this paper. Computer implementation and illustrative examples are provided in this paper to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Techniques presented in this paper can be used in CAD/CAM systems for high performance machining of complex polyhedral models.