Direct free-form deformation of NC programs for surface reconstruction and form-error compensation

In this paper a new approach for manufacturing modified workpieces by milling is presented. In course of product development, several optimization iterations are often required, in which the shape of the workpiece is modified. Conventional method for manufacturing modified workpieces includes a time-consuming and error-prone step of reverse engineering, where the new CAD/CAM data is generated with respect to the measurement data of the manufactured workpiece. The new approach generates a continuous deformation function in order to approximate the discrete displacement vectors between the initial and the modified shapes, and applies this function on the original NC programs of the workpiece. Hence, it is possible to directly manufacture the modified shape. The process of reverse engineering can be eliminated so that manufacturing costs and the time from workpiece design to the production decrease significantly.