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ComputerAided_Design_Engineering_amp_Manufactur.pdf

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Cutting Tool Selection<br />

Selection of the best cutting tool for a given operation is one of the complex tasks to be performed by<br />

the process planner. When developing a generative process planning system, it is necessary to incorporate<br />

mechanisms for automatic tool selection in the system without user intervention.<br />

Many CAPP systems contain a tool selection module with varying degrees of sophistication which<br />

gets the required data from other modules of the system. Since a large variety of cutting tools are available,<br />

the tool selection problem often becomes complex. It is further complicated by the large number of<br />

factors to be considered for tool selection. However, some general guidelines for selecting a cutting tool<br />

can be established based on production practices (Chen et al., 1989; Metropoulos and Hinduja, 1991;<br />

Yeo et al., 1990; Opitz, 1970; Halevi, G. and Weill, R.D., 1995).<br />

Tool selection essentially involves the specification of tool material, tool holder, and insert (shape,<br />

geometry, and grade). The main variables that control the selection process are<br />

• The operation<br />

• The work material and its condition<br />

• The component geometry<br />

• The machine tool<br />

• The production rate<br />

• The manufacturing quality.<br />

Each of the above variables would not only have its independent influence on the selection process<br />

but also sometimes be linked with the other variables. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a number of<br />

rules, based on the experience on the shop floor, as to how the tool selection is to be carried out.<br />

To make the selection process, it is necessary to store the details of the cutting tools as resources. A<br />

typical data structure that could be adopted for this is given in Table 5.5 in the appendix. The tool data<br />

base contains information about turning tools, grooving tools, threading tools, boring tools, etc. A<br />

separate data base can be made for form tools which can store the features produced by each of these<br />

form tools in that data base. The availability of a particular cutting tool on the shop floor can be indicated<br />

by changing the field “tool.available.”<br />

Selection of Turning Tools<br />

The selection of tools involves the determination of the key parameters and searching the tool data base,<br />

based on those key parameters. The guidelines in the tool selection module are based on the practices<br />

followed in the participating industry and a tool manufacturer’s handbook (Widia, 1989). The inputs<br />

coming from the models of the CAPP system such as PDIR, MRIR and PPIR are shown in parentheses<br />

below:<br />

1. Based on the operation and nature of cutting (pocket.operation, pocket.nature from PPIR), select<br />

the cl<strong>amp</strong>ing system.<br />

2. Based on the work material (global data from PDIR), nature of cutting, and the cl<strong>amp</strong>ing system,<br />

decide the insert shape and insert clearance angle.<br />

3. Find the tool-access and tool-out directions based on the geometry of the pocket (pocket shape<br />

and dimensions from PPIR).<br />

4. Based on the tool-access, tool-out, and feed directions, select the holder style.<br />

5. Based on the pocket dimensions and tool holder style, select the insert size. The steps involved<br />

are (a) determine the largest depth of cut from the pocket dimension; (b) based on the approach<br />

angle, find the theoretical cutting edge; and (c) find the exact cutting edge based on the insert<br />

shape.<br />

6. Find the maximum shank diameter on the machine tool selected. This parameter is obtained by<br />

searching the machine tool data base (from MRIR) with the help of machine tool code (from<br />

PPIR).

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