A New Geometric-and-Physics Model of Milling and An Effective Approach to Medial Axis Transforms of Free-form Pockets for High Performance Machining

A New Geometric-and-Physics Model of Milling and An Effective Approach to Medial Axis Transforms of Free-form Pockets for High Performance Machining Qiang Fu, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2010 Mechanical part quality and productivity depend on many parameters in CNC milling processes, such as workpiece material, cutters, tool paths, feed rate, and spindle speed, etc. To pursue high performance machining, the cutting parameter optimization is in high demand in industry, though it is quite challenge. This innovative research successfully addresses some essential problems in optimizing the cutting parameters by developing a new geometric-and-physics integrated model of milling and proposing an effective approach to the medial axis transforms of free-form pockets. In this research, an original geometric model of 2Vzand 3-axis CNC milling is developed and integrated with a well-established mechanistic model. A main research contribution is that this integrated model can predict complex milling processes in higher fidelity with instantaneous material remove rates, cutting forces and spindle powers, compared to prior machining models. In the geometric model, an in-process workpiece model is introduced by using a group of discrete Z-layers and applying the B-Rep scheme to represent the workpiece shape on each layer, in order to accurately represent instantaneous cutter-and-workpiece engagement in