Automatic generalized cutter selection for finishing of free-form surfaces in 3-axis CNC milling by "surface tolerance and tool performance metrics"

Tool selection in milling operation is an important step that dramatically influence the milling time. This paper discusses a new method to select the best cutter for different zones of a free-form surface from the list of available generalized cutters. A digital, voxel-based model is used to represent the workpiece and the available tools. First, the finishing performance is calculated for every tool and for every cutter location point. Second, the tool with maximum performance is selected for every point of the workpiece surface, and the whole milling surface is divided into zones with assigned optimal tool for every zone. Due to the high demand of computation power, a graphic processing unit is employed for the most consuming operations.