Abstract
Design engineers always look for attractive ways to demonstrate the concept of their designed systems. One of the techniques used in engineering is to draw or make physical model of the system. Computer graphics and virtual reality are new techniques that bring promising changes in this respect. The development of Virtual Machines and Virtual Machining Processes are technologies used in the design of machining equipment and in evaluating production processes. They consist of a group of recently developed techniques and approaches that allow the construction of machine computer models and the simulation of the fabrication process. What makes this group of manufacturing technologies special is that they allow the checking of machining and production parameters before actual prototyping and manufacturing of the required tooling. The possibility of using these virtual techniques could result in great savings of both time and money. In general, virtual manufacturing promises shorter design cycles with more design iterations, leading to a an optimal design and better use of resources. The end goal of any virtual manufacturing is to produce a virtual model of a machine that will virtually make the part from its database file containing the geometrical description of a physical object in terms of pre-defined geometric entities. The actual manufacturing hardware provides the physical means to machine the part, which Virtual Machining allows making as a computer model. A special software is employed to bridge the gap between the CAD data and the virtual manufacturing system. Such software should control various parameters such as the rate at which the positioning system proceeds, the tool path, the thickness of the layer of the material for removal and/or length of the path, the slice length, and others. Virtual manufacturing provides a means of motion control and easy manipulation of various manufacturing hardware. This paper describes our research effort to develop methods and software for virtual design that allow creation of different kinds of milling and grinding machines. These machines are compared with the actual existing machines and their production parts.
