Manufacturing of a maxillofacial prosthesis from an axial tomography using simulation technologies with a virtual machine tool and four-axis machining

<p>The surfaces of a personalized maxillofacial prosthesis were manufactured in a relatively short time with moderate cost. The topography of the surface was generated with a Computer-Aided Design system from a Computerized Axial Tomography of a maxillofacial area. The design of the machining manufacturing process, its simulation and verification were facilitated by the use of a virtual machine tool equivalent to the real machine tool available. Finally, the manufacturing process was successfully achieved by using a conventional 3-axis vertical machining center equipped with a fourth external rotational axis. Using a 3-axis machine tool with an additional axis is less expensive than using a 5-axis machine. There is abundant literature about machining of free-form surfaces using a 5-axis machine tool, but there are few precedents for the manufacturing of this kind of surface using a 4-axis machine.</p>

An Investigation on the Workpiece Roundness Generation in Centerless Grinding Based on the Integration of Virtual Machine Tool and Workpiece Material Removal Mechanism

In order to respond to market rapidly, save design time, reduce the cost and particularly design the machine in a predictable and reliable manner, an approach based on the integration of virtual machine tool and workpiece material removal mechanism is proposed in this article for the investigation of centerless grinding process, the prediction of workpiece roundness generation and the evaluation of dynamic characteristics of grinding system. In this approach the machine structure model is firstly presented by incorporating the kinematic relationship of the feed drive system and the material dynamic parameters of the grinding system. Then the virtual machine tool model is built by the combination of the machine mechanical structure and the control loop. Finally the virtual centerless grinding is realized by integrating the virtual machine and the workpiece material removal mechanism through their coupled surface regeneration mechanism. The comparison of the experimental and theoretical results demonstrates that this virtual centerless grinding approach can investigate the workpiece roundness generation accurately.

Research of Virtual Machine Based on UG and VERICUT

The virtual machine tool is a new technology going with the development of virtual manufacturing; it’s one of the key technologies of virtual machine. It possesses enormous economic benefits and widest application outlook, so it’s gradually becoming one research focus. Therefore around the virtual CNC machine tool research subject, the NC machining simulation key techniques were studied. Based on the development of FV-1000 virtual machine tool platform, combined with UG and VERICUT software to complete a variety of different functions in instances of multiple CNC machining simulation.