Modeling an envelope generated by 3D volumetric NC tool motion.

Simulation and verification of numerically controlled (NC) manufacturing processes require efficient visualization and analysis of the swept volume generated by the motion of freeform NC tools along complex 3D paths. State-of-the-art methods are either based on approximation techniques (thus lacking the level of accuracy required in NC manufacturing) or are based on analytical solutions with high computational complexity, which are not suitable for real-time applications. In addition, until recently, modeling the self-intersection of a generated volume was thought to be obstructed by seemingly complex mathematics. This paper proposes solving the sweeping problem by using the sweep-envelope differential equation (SEDE). This method has advantages over other methods in terms of low computational complexity and high accuracy. Moreover, this method includes efficient tools for self-intersection detection and modeling. In this paper, we present an enhanced self-intersection algorithm and apply the SEDE algorithm on a ball-end cutter that is swept along non-intersecting and self-intersecting cutter paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]