Geometric simulation of ball-end milling operations

In this paper B-rep solid modeling techniques ore used to deal with geometric modeling issues encountered in ball-end milling simulation. The precise B-rep model of the cuter swept volume is developed using advanced sweepimg/skinning techniques. Semi-finishing operations are simulated by performing consecutive Boolean operations between the updated part and swept volume. The instantaneous chip geometry is accurately and reliably extracted from the B-rep model of the updated part. Also, the material removal in ball-end milling is precisely simulated for finishing operations, in order to construct the feed-mark and scollop geometries. The validity of the final model is confirmed by comparing the predicted feed-mark profile with experimental measurements. The system developed can he used to verify and optimize NC codes, thus contributing to improving reliability, accuracy, and productivity in CNC machining.