Optimal cutter selection and machining plane determination for process planning and NC machining of complex surfaces

This paper deals with the optimal cutter selection and machining plane determination problems for NC machining and process planning. Two optimization methods, an integer programming (IP) method and a dynamic programming (DP) method, are presented. While the IP method provides an upper bound for such a problem, the DP method provides an optimal solution at the cost of longer computational time. Both methods can be used to automate the traditional, experience-based cutter selection tasks and to reduce the total machining time in NC machining operations. Numerical examples are included to illustrate both methods.