Efficient sculptured pocket machining using feature extraction and conversion

A methodology is presented for finding a feature that can be used from design to manufacturing for sculptured pockets. A feature is the core concept necessary to realize a fully integrated CAD/CAM system; the information contents embedded in the feature can be easily conveyed from one application to another. However, the feature generated in one application may not be directly suitable for another without being modified with more information. This paper presents a methodology for decomposing a bulky feature of a sculptured pocket into compact features to be efficiently machined. In particular, the paper focuses on two tasks: (1) to horizontally segment a bulky feature into intermediate features and to generate their temporal precedence graph, and (2) to further decompose each intermediate feature vertically into smaller manufacturing features and to apply the variable feed rate to each small feature. The proposed method will provide better efficiency in machining time and cost than the classical method, which uses a long string of NC code.