Improving the efficiency of solid-based NC simulation by using spatial decomposition methods

摘要

Geometric accuracy is the major concern in numerically controlled (NC) milling simulation. Solid-based approach can provide more accurate geometric information, but it is of high computational cost. An efficient solid-based geometric NC simulation approach, by representing both cutter swept volume and initial or updated workpieces with triangular mesh and then performing consecutive Boolean subtractions to simulate the cutting process, is presented. The simulation efficiency is improved by applying two spatial decomposition methods including workpiece division and background grid to accelerate the spatial queries needed during the simulation process. The proposed approach was implemented, and the experimental results demonstrate that the simulation efficiency is improved significantly by applying spatial decomposition methods.