High-Speed Milling Tool Path Optimization
High-speed milling is an advanced manufacturing technology that is becoming increasingly popular for the machining of complex components, due to its high metal removal rate, low cutting forces and improved material usage. For high-speed milling processes it is important to optimize the tool path to maximize the high-sped advantage. This thesis presents an optimization approach to generate optimal tool paths for high-speed milling.
The optimization approach is based on the incremental displacement method and uses an iterative process to generate an optimal tool path. The goal is to minimize the operating time by finding the shortest tool path that minimizes the cutting forces and reduces the area of the generated tool path. The optimization approach is applied to various types of components and the resulting optimal tool path is compared to the experimental results obtained from different types of machining operations.
The optimization approach consists of two main steps: kinematic analysis and optimization. The kinematic analysis is used to identify the type of machining operation and the tool characteristics. The optimization process consists of three stages: parameters analysis, tool path optimization and post-processing. The parameters analysis stage is used to generate a tool path that has the minimal distance to the workpiece. During the optimization stage the generated tool path is optimized with respect to the cutting forces generated and the area of the tool path. The post-processing stage is used to modify the generated tool path to further reduce the cutting forces.
To evaluate the performance of the optimization approach, various benchmarking tests have been conducted on typical milling operations. The results of the tests show that the optimization approach is able to generate tool paths that have reduced cutting forces and a reduced area compared to the traditional tool path. The generated tool paths also have improved accuracy for the machined components.
To demonstrate the potential of the proposed approach, a high-speed milling optimization experiment was conducted to explore the effects of different parameters on the optimal tool path. The results of the experiment show that the proposed optimization approach can generate tool paths that have reduced cutting forces, improved set-up accuracy, and improved material usage when compared to the traditional tool paths.
In conclusion, this thesis presents a novel optimization approach for high-speed milling tool path optimization. The proposed optimization approach is able to generate optimal tool paths that minimize the cutting forces and reduce the area of the generated tool path. The results of the benchmarking tests and experimentation show that the proposed approach can improve the quality of the machined components and reduce the time required for the machining operation.
