The Use of Feature Technology in Selecting Cutting Tools and Generating Tool Paths

Conventional manufacturing depends on the expertise of a process-planner in analyzing the design’s inputs and generating a comprehensive manufacturing plan. Despite the use of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) systems during the manufacturing process, it is still considered costly and time-consuming due to the demands of human intervention. Automation systems have become indispensable in the manufacturing industry since they significantly reduce the effort and errors of process planners, improve manufacturing flexibility, enhance efficiency, and minimize product costs. To solve the issue and achieve automation in this field, feature technology is used to automatically integrate the design and manufacturing processes. Algorithms of automatic feature recognition (AFR) have been developed to analyze geometric information of a part design, stored as a STEP file, and convert it to a set of predefined features. After completing the recognition process, a feature subtraction method is applied to solve the intersection issue of the predefined features which appears during the rough cutting cycle and generates intermediate features. This study focuses on recognizing and subtracting features of rotational parts. The system has been built via C# programing to detect set of 14 predefined final features, as well as different shapes of intermediate features. Both the final and intermediate features can be utilized to automatically generate the desired outputs of a process planning. This includes selecting machining process, sequence of operations, cutting tools and cutting conditions, and generating the G-code for machining the part. The proposed methodology has been evaluated through simulations and practical experiments, and the results were as expected.