Researching On CAPP Technology For Automotive Panel Stamping Dies CNC Machining

In die and mould manufacturing, process planning has very important effect on manufacturing resources and time. It represents the link between engineering design and shop floor manufacturing, and is a major determinant of manufacturing cost, quality and profitability of die and mould product.With the application of computers in the manufactory industry, the feasibility of applying the computers to assist machining process planning has been proved. CAPP technique offers an effective method to improve the quality of process files, shorten the prepared time of production, improve the capability of information-management and communication among different departments, as well as release engineers from the boring reduplicate work. The time of design can be shortened and faster reaction to modification and changes in design are achieved by employing the CAPP technique, and meanwhile the workload spent on making process files as well as the possibility of mistake can be lighten. The necessity of adopting CAPP technique has been realized by more and more enterprises.First of all, the manufacturing situation and design process for automotive panel die and mould are introduced, and then the applications of CAPP technique in automotive panel die and mould manufacture are presented.Then the optimized models of rough machining for pockets and finish machining for surfaces are studied, and the effect of the toolpath on machining time and machining quality are discussed. The results of researches establish the theoretical basis for developing the CAPP template of automotive panel stamping die.Based on the researches on selection and optimization for die and mould manufacturing process as well as its structural feature, an index CAPP template is developed by employing the PowerMILL software. The template provided in this paper is able to promote the integration of the CAD/ CAPP/ CAM and enhance the capability of reacting to market for automotive panel stamping die.The CNC machining procedure for automotive panel die and mould is difficult because various types of CNC machine tools exist to aid the various stages of manufacturing. An efficient CNC machining process planning system is essential to improve the machining process and to reduce the process planning and programming time. An efficient CNC machining process and the CAPP template for automotive panel stamping dies with different structural features are developed by employing PowerMILL software based on the research on their structural features and machining process. Applications of sheet metal die machining verify the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed CAPP template.