Clean-up tool path generation by contraction tool method for machining complex polyhedral models

In high performance machining, multiple cutters of different sizes are used for roughing, finishing and clean-up cutting. In this paper, a contraction tool method is proposed to detect gouging and generate clean-up tool paths for machining complex polyhedral models. The proposed contraction tool method utilizes a series of intermediate virtual cutters to search for clean-up boundaries and construct the clean-up tool paths. The constructed clean-up tool paths consist of a set of clean-up CL-curves traced by the intermediate virtual cutters. The techniques presented in this paper can be used in CAD/CAM systems to automatically identify the clean-up regions of polyhedral models and to generate clean-up tool paths. Computer implementation and practical examples are also presented in this paper. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.