Abstract
The appearance of various kinds of machine tools enables to manufacture complicated shapes and integrate manufacturing processes. However, the increasing of machine tool types, especially multi-axis control and multi-function machine tools forces heavy labor to select a suitable machine tool. Therefore, it is required to automate the machine tool selection to improve production efficiency. This study aims to automate the machine tool selection by evaluating and comparing machining processes based on form-generating motions. A system to recognize machining features considering the description of form-generating function of machine tools is developed as the first step in this study. In addition, process analysis is achieved depending on recognized machining features that the shapes are a hollow cylindrical shape or a solid cylindrical shape. Case studies are conducted to confirm the usefulness of the developed system. From the results, machining features are recognized based on the description of form-generating function and the results of process analysis are obtained successfully to support the machine tool selection.
