Functional-voxel Modeling of the Toolpath when Milling a Pocket Area

Abstract

Increasing the accuracy of manufactured details requires the improvement of workpiece machining processes. It also requires the development of new and the upgrading of existing computer models of details and technological processes. The production of details with complex geometric shapes, such as pocket areas, requires the simulation of all physical processes occurring in the material to take into account their influence on the shape of the resulting part and further adjustment of the control program. The method of functional-voxel modeling has previously been applied to the simulation of thermal stress arising in the process of cutting during machining of details. The application of functional-voxel approaches to tool path design will extend the field of application of the method in technological processes, complementing the earlier research. The pocket area proposed in the earlier works is chosen for the development and investigation of the required tool. The method of motion relative to the gradient direction is proposed for modeling the tool path. Specifically, the motion along the direction perpendicular to the vector of the highest rate of change of function values. Functional-voxel modeling of the contour is carried out by R-function interruption of zero segments, expressed by the local zeroing function (FLOZ), on the positive area. Applying the gradient descent method to the resulting model allowed us to construct a path that uniformly fills the contour, simulating the motion of the machining tool.