Computer

Aided Design and Manufacturing

Introduction to CNC

Dr. Suvradip Mullick

School of Mechanical Sciences

IIT Bhubaneswar
2019
Computer Aided Manufacturing
Use of Computer technology for
manufacturing planning, execution and CAD Automation
control of product or service
CAM

Planning:
 Feature extraction through image Manufacturing
processing technique
 Computer Aided Process Planning
 Developing CNC codes for machining Execution:
 Developing codes for Industrial  Machining
robots for loading, unloading,  Assembly
transfer, reorientation, Assembly,  Packaging
painting Control:
 Cost estimation, inventory planning,  Comp. Aided Inspection
line balancing  Shop floor control
 Inventory control
Computer Aided Manufacturing
Strategic Role of CAM
Providing advantage to company to develop capabilities by combining
economy of scale with economy of scope resulting in desired flexibility
and efficiency

Advantages:
1. Greater design freedom: changes can be incorporated at any design
stage and there will be hardly any delay to an integrated CAM
environment
2. Increased productivity
3. Greater operating flexibilities: sequence can be changed
4. Shorter lead time (start to finish)
5. Improved reliability
6. Reduced maintenance
7. Reduced scrape and rework
8. Better management control
 Evolution of machine tools
NC, CNC and DNC generate
accuracies in microns

 Manual Lathe
 Copying Lathe
 Replication job – mass production Copying attachment of lathe
 Cam follower mechanism
 Use of original material or template along with stylus or a tracer
 Hydraulically operated forward & backward movements of carriage
 Machine tool with Numerical Control (NC)
 Machine tool with Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
 Direct numerical control (DNC)

In case of NC machine
Alphanumeric code  Input according to profile  Stepper /Servo motors
(Binary system) (x, y, z coordinates) (connected to m/c slides)
 NC, CNC and DNC
NC machine tool:
 A punch tape is made by using a
sequence of holes in prescribed format
 To make 1000 jobs the tape is rewind
and run for 1000 times ‐ A clumsy job, Numerical control
wear and tear
CNC machine:
 A program is written in high
level language and recorded
in memory of Computer
Computer Numerical Control
Direct Numerical Control (DNC)
 A mainframe computer contains all
data, sequence of operations and
details of factory operation
 It controls many CNC machines and
Material handling system at a time
Direct Numerical Control
How do CAD/CAM systems work?
• Developing NC code requires an understanding of:
1. Part geometry
2. Tooling
3. Process plans
4. Tolerances
5. Fixturing

• Most CAD/CAM systems provide access to:

1. Part geometry – Generation of part program from CAD design
2. Tooling
CNC Machine Tool
Design Features
Machining/ Turning centers: General design features
 Massive construction
 Sufficient stiffness for minimum deviations resulting due to large
dynamic forces
 Weight to stiffness ratio is low – steel
 Cast Iron and Concrete bed for high damping capacity
 Independent movement of different axes

 Sliding components give way to rolling components (no friction

and backlash error)
 Linear motion bearings
 Radial bearings
 Re‐circulating ball bearings

 Closed loop feed back control – servo control

 Use of stepper motor or servo motor
 Use of linear or rotary encoders/ transducers
CNC Turning: General features

 Use of hexagonal or octagonal

turret
 Variable RPM for varying
diameter
 Auto centring/ tool changing
 Use of tool magazine
CNC Machining: General features

2‐D Profile Machining

3‐D Machining:

Requirement of
5 axes
3‐D CNC Machining
Tool has to move along linear path
Orientation on the curve, oriented along the
of the tool
unit normal (directional normal)
Orientation of
the tool
on that surface.
Tool to be used: Ball end mill cutter
(diameter will depend on the
complexity of curvature of the
surface)
Surface finish depends on the ball
head diameter
Type:
Isoparametric
Isoplanner
Isoscallop
Isoparametric:
 The total surface is divided into multiple path using two orthogonal axis
 The length of forward and side steps (as shown in figure above) are
defined depending on the allowable roughness of the surface.
 The values of FS and SS can’t be change during operation
 Computational complexity is low, but large storage is required (as
information or co‐ordinate of a huge no of points are to be supplied)
 For converging surface, number point of points increases unnecessarily at
the smaller end, as the same number of division is required at the large
and small end, and the minimum SS will be depending the allowable
roughness of the surface

Isoplanner:
 The surface is cut by parallel planes.
 Tool moves along the interaction curve of plane and the surface.
 SS is the distance between two plane
 Comparatively less number of point than isoparametric system
Isoscallop:
 The value of FS and SS are calculated during the operation itself
 FS and SS are calculated depending on the roughness of the current
position on the surface
 Where curvature is small, the length values can be kept large, thus
minimizing the number of point
 Computational complexity is high (as the computer has to calculate the
value of FS and SS after each small step), but less storage is required (as
only the information of the current and next point is to be stored)

Isoparametric Isoplanner
Iso‐parametric Design

Orientation
of the tool

Orientatio
n of the
tool

ISOPARAMETR
IC
ISOPLANNER
FS: Forward
step
SS: Side step

F
S
S
S
CNC Machining: 3, 4 and 5 axis machine

a, b & c axes:
rotation about
X, Y & Z

4‐axes

 3‐axis: X, Y and Z axes – No

curvature generation
 4‐axis: Rotation about one axis
 5‐axis: Rotation about two axes
 General convention: away from the 5‐axes
job – positive axis
 Machine reference/ Machine zero
& Work reference/ Job zero
 Referencing of the tool during
operation
Automatic tool changing system
 Automatic tool holder for CNC machines
 Egg box type
 Chain type
 Drum type
 Turret type
 Automatic Tool Changer Arm
 Identification of tool no from program
Automatic tool changing system
Box type ATC

Chain type
ATC

Drum type
ATC
Side/ center Turret type ATC
Ball Screw Mechanism: Elimination of Backlash

Normal gear contact Ball screw mechanism

 Two ball nuts with a spring assembly

between them
 The spring assembly presses one nut
against the left side of the screw tracks
and the other nut against the right side of
the screw tracks  Balls make contact at the both
 Replacing the simple lead screw profile sides of the nut and screw teeth
with rolled or finely ground ball bearings  No false movement during the
running between it motion reversing
 Linear friction is converted to the
 Similar thread form in the saddle nut
rotational friction
Open and Closed Loop Control System

 Open Loop refers to a system using a stepper motor, where the

communication between the controller system and motor is one way
 The closed‐loop system has a feedback sub‐system to monitor the
actual output and correct any discrepancy from the programmed input.
 Position down
counter Open Loop Control System
AND (Point to point control)
gate
Tool
Pulse Generator
Driver

Table

Stepper
Motor Gear box
Lead
screw

 Basic Length Unit (BLU): The minimum distance the tool can travel
 For a open loop system: Depends on the pitch & no of start of the lead screw and
minimum angular rotation of the stepper motor
 Let assume the stepper motor can rotate 1.8o for single pulse
 Single pulse ≈ 1.8/360 ≈ 1/200 rotation of the full revolution
 Let assume the gear ratio of gear box is 1/2
 Single pulse ≈ (1/200) x (1/2) ≈ 1/400 rotation of the full revolution of lead screw
 Let the screw has a pitch of 2 mm and number of start is 2; i.e. one rotation will
result movement of 2×2 = 4 mm
 Movement in single pulse = 4×(1/400) mm = 0.01 mm = 10 µm
 Closed Loop Control System
 Use of Encoder for feedback
 Minimum travel of tool/table for single pulse.
 Let there are 200 holes in the encoder
 Single pulse = movement of one gap between two holes ≈ 1/200 rotation of
the full revolution
 Let the screw has a pitch of 2 mm and number of start is 2; i.e. on rotation
will result movement of 2×2 = 4 mm
 Movement in single pulse = 4×(1/200) mm = 0.02 mm = 20 µm

Position down
counter Tool
CLOSED LOOP CONTROL SYSTEM
(Continuous Contour Control)

AND Table
gate Analog
Pulse comparator
Generator Interpolator
+ +
PMDC
Digital to Lead
Up/Down Analog screw
Controller converter
–
– (DAC) T
Encoder
Tachometer
Stepper & Servo Motor
 Stepper motor: Converts train of electric
pulses into precisely defined step‐by‐step
mechanical shaft rotation
 The shaft rotates through a fixed angle for each
discrete pulse
 Number of input pulses decides the step angle
 The direction of the shaft rotation depends on the
sequence of pulses applied to the stator
 The average motor speed is directly proportional
to the frequency

 Servo motor: rotary actuator that allows for a

precise control in terms of the angular position,
acceleration, and velocity
 Suitable for a closed loop operation – Under feed
back control system
 In modern servo motors, electronic encoders or
sensors sense the position of the shaft
Working Principle of Stepper Motor
Encoders: Linear and Rotary
Rotary transducers: Rotary encoder

 Connected with lead screw either

directly or through precision
gearing.
 Measures position of the slide as it
measures some angle
 Feed train ratio relates it to linear
movement of the slide
 Rotary encoders: used in mechanical
systems, like, industrial controls,
robotics, photographic lenses,
computer input devices etc.
 Linear encoders: used in metrology
instruments, motion systems, inkjet
printers and high precision
machining tools
Encoders: Linear and Rotary
Linear transducers:
 Indicates position of the
slide directly
 One part of the transducer is
fixed on the machine tool
Linear encoder structure
 The other part is attached to
a slide which moves over the
stationary part
 Type of encoders
 Optical
 Magnetic
 Capacitive
 Glass scale or magnetic
strips or others
Working Principle of Linear Encoder
Absolute & Incremental Encoders
 An Absolute Encoder maintains position information when power is
removed from the encode
 An Incremental Encoder maintains position information when power is
removed from the encode

Absolute Rotary encoder

Absolute & Incremental Encoders
Slide position
= 20 + 21 +22 +0
= 1+2+4
= 7 units

Absolute Linear encoder