Beyond geometry: Process planning for high speed machining of monolithic structures

Process planning is difficult but process planning for high-speed machining of thin monolithic parts is even more so, because it depends very heavily on an understanding of what the machine can do. In this paper, we describe a new approach for high speed machining that uses both geometric reasoning techniques and a number of non-geometric analyses to generate process plans for the fabrication of thin monolithic structures. The approach employs novel techniques for fixturing, path planning, and tool selection. Experimental results demonstrate that plans generated with this approach result in manufacturing productivity and quality that is at least double of current practices.