Title: Sculptured Surface Machining of Die Steel by Applying Elliptical Vibration Cutting (1st Report)
Abstract: New machining method and system are developed in the present research to realize sculptured surface machining of die steel by applying "elliptical vibration cutting". The present report presents the new machining method, and a 4-axis controlled precision machine tool and special CAM software for the proposed method. It is expected that shape accuracy, tool life, machining efficiency and energy consumption are all improved by the proposed method as compared with the conventional ball end milling. The prototype machine tool is developed by employing an air spindle driven directly by a coreless servo mortar, precision ball screws and precision linear roller guides. The CAM software is developed by utilizing a commercial main processor and developing a new post processor to generate tool paths for the 4-axis controlled motion. A new 3-DOF elliptical vibration system, which is required to complete the present technology, and application to hard materials will be presented in the next reports. It is confirmed in the present report that mirror surface machining of aluminum alloy can be realized by applying the proposed machining method and the developed machine tool and CAM software.