Machining Impossible Shapes

This text provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject of sculptured surface machining in terms of user needs, CAM software solutions and theoretical research results and issues. State-of-the-art capabilities of the best commercial CAM systems are compared to user needs, and advanced academic research is presented. Among the topics covered are the following: generative NC for dies and molds; 5-axis machining of impellers; cutting simulation and NC verification; virtual machining; CAPP for die and mold machining; and NURBS-based CNC interpolators. It contains the proceedings of the International Conference on Sculptured Surface Machining: Machining Impossible Shapes (SMM'98), sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held at the Chrysler Technology Center, Michigan, USA, in November 1998. This book is aimed at researchers and practitioners in computer science, technical managers and software specialists.