Process planning is a task comprising a broad range of activities to design and develop an appropriate manufacturing process for producing a part. Interpretation of the part design, selection of manufacturing processes, definition of operations, operation sequences, machining datums, geometrical dimensions and tolerances are some common activities associated with the task. Process planning is also “the link between product design and manufacturing” with the supplementary commission to support design of competitive products. Process planning is of a complex and dynamic nature, often managed by a skilled person with few, or no, explicit methods to solve the task. The work is heuristic and the result is depending on personal experiences and decisions. Since decades, there have been plenty of attempts to develop systems for computer-aided process planning (CAPP). CAPP is still awaiting its breakthrough and one reason is the gap between the functionality of the CAPP systems and the industrial process planning practice. This thesis has an all-embracing aim of finding methods that cover essential activities for process planning, including abilities to predict the outcome of a proposed manufacturing process. This is realised by gathering supporting methods suitable to manage both qualitative and quantitative characterisation and analyses of a manufacturing process. The production research community has requested systematisation and deeper understanding of industrial process planning. This thesis contributes with a flow chart describing the process planning process (PPP), in consequence of the methodological studies. The flow chart includes process planning activities and information flows between these activities. The research has been performed in an industrial environment for high volume manufacturing of gear parts. Though gear manufacturing has many distinctive features, the methods and results presented in this thesis are generally applicable to precision manufacturing of many kinds of mechanical parts. / <p>QC 20140522</p>

This thesis presents cutter swept volume generation, in-process workpiece modeling and Cutter Workpiece Engagement (CWE) algorithms for finding the instantaneous intersections between cutter and workpiece in milling. One of the steps in simulating machining operations is the accurate extraction of the intersection geometry between cutter and workpiece. This geometry is a key input to force calculations and feed rate scheduling in milling. Given that industrial machined components can have highly complex geometries, extracting intersections accurately and efficiently is challenging. Three main steps are needed to obtain the intersection geometry between cutter and workpiece. These are the Swept volume generation, in-process workpiece modeling and CWE extraction respectively. In this thesis an analytical methodology for determining the shapes of the cutter swept envelopes is developed. In this methodology, cutter surfaces performing 5-axis tool motions are decomposed into a set of characteristic circles. For obtaining these circles a concept of two-parameter-family of spheres is introduced. Considering relationships among the circles the swept envelopes are defined analytically. The implementation of methodology is simple, especially when the cutter geometries are represented by pipe surfaces. During the machining simulation the workpiece update is required to keep track of the material removal process. Several choices for workpiece updates exist. These are the solid, facetted and vector model based methodologies. For updating the workpiece surfaces represented by the solid or faceted models third party software can be used. In this thesis multi-axis milling update methodologies are developed for workpieces defined by discrete vectors with different orientations. For simplifying the intersection calculations between discrete vectors and the tool envelope the properties of canal surfaces are utilized. A typical NC cutter has different surfaces with varying geometries and during the material removal process restricted regions of these surfaces are eligible to contact the in-process workpiece. In this thesis these regions are analyzed with respect to different tool motions. Later using the results from these analyses the solid, polyhedral and vector based CWE methodologies are developed for a range of different types of cutters and multi-axis tool motions. The workpiece surfaces cover a wide range of surface geometries including sculptured surfaces.

This thesis presents cutter swept volume generation, in-process workpiece modeling and Cutter Workpiece Engagement (CWE) algorithms for finding the instantaneous intersections between cutter and workpiece in milling. One of the steps in simulating machining operations is the accurate extraction of the intersection geometry between cutter and workpiece. This geometry is a key input to force calculations and feed rate scheduling in milling. Given that industrial machined components can have highly complex geometries, extracting intersections accurately and efficiently is challenging. Three main steps are needed to obtain the intersection geometry between cutter and workpiece. These are the Swept volume generation, in-process workpiece modeling and CWE extraction respectively. In this thesis an analytical methodology for determining the shapes of the cutter swept envelopes is developed. In this methodology, cutter surfaces performing 5-axis tool motions are decomposed into a set of characteristic circles. For obtaining these circles a concept of two-parameter-family of spheres is introduced. Considering relationships among the circles the swept envelopes are defined analytically. The implementation of methodology is simple, especially when the cutter geometries are represented by pipe surfaces. During the machining simulation the workpiece update is required to keep track of the material removal process. Several choices for workpiece updates exist. These are the solid, facetted and vector model based methodologies. For updating the workpiece surfaces represented by the solid or faceted models third party software can be used. In this thesis multi-axis milling update methodologies are developed for workpieces defined by discrete vectors with different orientations. For simplifying the intersection calculations between discrete vectors and the tool envelope the properties of canal surfaces are utilized. A typical NC cutter has different surfaces with varying geometries and during the material removal process restricted regions of these surfaces are eligible to contact the in-process workpiece. In this thesis these regions are analyzed with respect to different tool motions. Later using the results from these analyses the solid, polyhedral and vector based CWE methodologies are developed for a range of different types of cutters and multi-axis tool motions. The workpiece surfaces cover a wide range of surface geometries including sculptured surfaces.

This thesis presents cutter swept volume generation, in-process workpiece modeling and Cutter Workpiece Engagement (CWE) algorithms for finding the instantaneous intersections between cutter and workpiece in milling. One of the steps in simulating machining operations is the accurate extraction of the intersection geometry between cutter and workpiece. This geometry is a key input to force calculations and feed rate scheduling in milling. Given that industrial machined components can have highly complex geometries, extracting intersections accurately and efficiently is challenging. Three main steps are needed to obtain the intersection geometry between cutter and workpiece. These are the Swept volume generation, in-process workpiece modeling and CWE extraction respectively. In this thesis an analytical methodology for determining the shapes of the cutter swept envelopes is developed. In this methodology, cutter surfaces performing 5-axis tool motions are decomposed into a set of characteristic circles. For obtaining these circles a concept of two-parameter-family of spheres is introduced. Considering relationships among the circles the swept envelopes are defined analytically. The implementation of methodology is simple, especially when the cutter geometries are represented by pipe surfaces. During the machining simulation the workpiece update is required to keep track of the material removal process. Several choices for workpiece updates exist. These are the solid, facetted and vector model based methodologies. For updating the workpiece surfaces represented by the solid or faceted models third party software can be used. In this thesis multi-axis milling update methodologies are developed for workpieces defined by discrete vectors with different orientations. For simplifying the intersection calculations between discrete vectors and the tool envelope the properties of canal surfaces are utilized. A typical NC cutter has different surfaces with varying geometries and during the material removal process restricted regions of these surfaces are eligible to contact the in-process workpiece. In this thesis these regions are analyzed with respect to different tool motions. Later using the results from these analyses the solid, polyhedral and vector based CWE methodologies are developed for a range of different types of cutters and multi-axis tool motions. The workpiece surfaces cover a wide range of surface geometries including sculptured surfaces. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Cutting movement is still one of the main means to obtain the desired machined surface. As the most representative cutting method in subtractive manufacturing, milling is widely used in industrial production. However, the chatter induced by the dynamic interaction between machine tool and process not only reduces the accuracy of the machined workpiece, but also increases the tool wear and affects the rotary accuracy of the spindle. The stability lobe diagram can provide stable machining parameters for the technicians, and it is currently an effective way to avoid chatter. In fact, the dynamic interaction between the machine tool and process is very complicated, which involves the machine tool, milling tool, workpiece and fixture. The induced mechanism of chatter depends on different machining scenarios and is not entirely dependent on the vibration modes of milling tool. Therefore, it is important to obtain stable machining parameters and to know the dynamic surface location error distribution, which can ensure machining quality and improve machining efficiency. In this dissertation, two methods for constructing stability lobe diagram are first introduced, and then two machining scales, macro milling and micro milling, are studied. For the macro-milling scale, the dynamic response of the in-process workpiece with time-varying modal parameters during the material removal process is analyzed. The stability lobe diagrams for thin-walled workpiece and general workpiece with continuous radial immersion milling are established respectively. Besides, the cumulative surface location error distribution is also studied and verified for the general workpiece. For the micro-milling scale, the dynamics at the micro-milling tool point is obtained by means of the receptance coupling substructure analysis method. The stability lobe diagram and surface location error distribution are analyzed under different restricted/free tool overhang lengths. The relationship between measurement results and burrs is further explained by cutting experiments, and the difference between the two milling scales is compared in the end.