Shaped surfaces are increasingly used in the field of mold-making for casting or injection molding, where future products include shapes with different curvatures. These are surfaces that form convex curves, concave curves, or a combination thereof. Given these machined surfaces, it is important to know the impact of the finishing strategies on these surfaces. This paper deals with the comparison of finishing milling strategies in the production of shaped surfaces and the analysis of different methods for the evaluation of surface topography. In addition, the experimental results evaluate the roughness of the machined surface and surface shape variations. The material used for the experiments was AlCu4Mg aluminum alloy, and Constant Z, spiral and spiral circle strategies were chosen for the finishing strategies. The evaluation of surface topography and surface roughness was carried out at three different specimen heights with respect to the tool’s contact with the machined surface.

Freeform surfaces are present on an increasing number of engineering products. Three- and multi-axis computer numerical control milling machines are commonly used for improved production. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems are used almost exclusively for the creation of programs for a variety of machining centers. This study compared the quality of freeform surfaces made by 3- and 5-axis milling using three commonly used strategies (linear, offset, and spiral). The CAM system-predicted surfaces were also compared with the actual surfaces. A test sample with a freeform surface was used for the experiments. Considering the size and distribution, the discrepancy between the predicted surface deviations and the deviations in the produced samples was proven. Maximum negative surface deviations, when 5-axis milling, employed linear and spiral strategy of 29% and 71% less than those produced by the 3-axis milling. On the contrary, positive deviations were 48% smaller. A comparison of the scans showed that the two strategies (linear and spiral) yielded better results for 5-axis milling, and the offset strategy was better for 3-axis milling. Evaluation of the achieved surface roughness showed that the milling method did not significantly affect the surface quality in the linear strategy. However, other two strategies (offset and spiral) achieved better results with 5-axis milling compared to 3-axis milling. The proposed method of evaluating the accuracy of machined free form surfaces can be used in experimental as well as production activities.

Free-form surfaces in the automotive or aviation industry where the future shape of the product will contain complex surfaces raises the question of how to achieve the necessary shape of the required quality in the milling process. One of the methods of their production is the use of 5-axis milling, in which it is necessary to consider not only the input data of the process itself, but also the methodology for evaluating the desired results. Correctly answered questions can thus facilitate the choice of the inclination of the tool when machining parts of the surfaces defined in the experiment. The primary goal of the paper was to monitor the influence of tool inclination on the quality of the machined surface and effective cutting speed by evaluating surface roughness and surface topography. The experiment was designed to show the effect of different tool positions while the feed per tooth f_z for the finishing operation remained constant. The best result in terms of surface quality was achieved with a tool inclination of 15° in the cutting process. The most unfavorable result was obtained with a tool axis inclination of zero degrees due to unfavorable cutting conditions.

The current mechanical engineering is inconceivable without the implementation of CAx systems in design and manufacturing process of individual components. The automotive industry is a clear evidence of how CAx systems affect the innovation cy...

Shaped surfaces are increasingly used in the field of mould making for casting or injection moulding, where future products include shapes with different curvatures. These are surfaces that form convex curves, concave curves, or a combination thereof. Given these machined surfaces, it is important to know the impact of the finishing strategies on these surfaces. This paper deals with the comparison of finishing milling strategies in the production of shaped surfaces and the analysis of different methods for the evaluation of surface topography, surface roughness and the evaluation of deviations. The material used for the experiments was AlCu4Mg aluminium alloy, and Constant Z, Spiral and Spiral circle strategies were chosen for the finishing strategies. The evaluation of surface topography and surface roughness was carried out at three different sample heights with respect to the tool contact with the machined surface. The results showed changes in the toolpaths due to the variation of the effective diameter of the tool cutter to the machined surface as well as the choice of strategy. To produce specimens with corresponding shapes in terms of topography, the Constant Z strategy was the most suitable, in which uniform toolpaths were obtained over the whole height of the sample.

The components with formed surfaces are being an important category of the machine parts. They are applied in the most of industrial branches. In order to produce such type of machine parts it is necessary to harmonise the contradictory requir...