NC Rough Machining of Sculptured Surface Based on Measured Data

A new method for generating tool paths for rough machining of sculptured surface is presented in this paper. The sculptured surface is approximated by a regular mesh of quadrangular facets. A set of equidistant horizontal planes are assigned to intersect the blank of machined part and surface model, resulting in a series of contours, which demarcate the feasible cutting regions of each layer of material removal. The desired cutter path is computed through NC programming and any gouging between the cutter and the part being machined is detected and corrected automatically. The proposed algorithm successfully solves the problem of layered milling for sculptured surface with nested islands.