The Mold Cavity Cnc Milling Tool Combination Optimization, And Tool Path Pattern

With the development of the manufacturing technology, because of its high-speed, high-efficient, high-precision and other advantages, NC machining centers have been increasing applied to the complex mold cavities' processing. However the existing CAD/CAM systems still need processors to determine the processing parameters, and then generate the cutting location source files (CLSF). NC machine centers always work with a lower utilization and higher cost because of the level and experience of the processors. Therefore the technics optimization before the mold to be manufactured can make the cost lower and increase the production efficiency.The optimization of CNC machining typically includes: the selection of tools, cutting parameters and tool moving styles; the generation of cutting-path and so on. A great deal of research on the generation of cutting-path and the selection of cutting parameters have already been studied The tool combination selection for rough and the selection of tool moving styles for finish machining are studied in this article. To help quotations, the estimation module of the processing time is also developed in this article. Taking the UG software as a platform, in virtue of its second development tools UG/Open API, using VC++, optimization module for CNC machining is developed.In the research of tool combination selection, the accessible regions of tools and the method of pocket decomposition were analyzed. In this article, the formulation for calculating the machining cost and the flow of tool selection were presented, the Dijkstra algorithm was analyzed. In the selection of tool moving styles for finish machining, the cutting widths by different styles were analyzed under the same scallop's condition. And the most efficient one was presented. At last the factors affecting processing time were studied for estimating the time.With the application in examples, the functional module is feasible, and this will increase the efficiency of manufacturing and shorten the production cycle of molds.