Milling Simulation-Based Method to Evaluate Manufacturability of Machine Parts

The designers of mechanical products are generally not experts in machining. Therefore, they often design parts with inherent machining difficulties. Although various design for manufacturability tools have been developed to avoid such problems, their use in practice remains limited due to their lack of versatility. We develop a novel piece of software that can automatically detect difficult-to-machine shapes in a part. Using this software, the designer can determine which shapes are difficult to produce using conventional cutting by themselves, and can modify the shape on the spot. In the Internet-based part manufacturing business, the same software can be used to check whether the given part can be produced using the standard milling operations predetermined in a company. Our system is based on “milling simulation”. It detects any shapes that cannot be produced using the prepared cutting tools by executing the milling simulations with the tools, and then visualizing shapes that remain unmachined after all simulations. In this study, the acceleration of the processing is realized using graphics processing unit technology, and it is possible to extract difficult-to-machine shapes in several minutes using a standard PC.