AP-238 CC1 Testing for 5-Axis Machining

On February 3rd, 2005 the OMAC STEP-NC Working Group hosted an AP-238 testing forum in Orlando Florida. The tests were done on 5-axis parts using AP-238 CC1 machine independent toolpaths. In addition to showing CAD/CAM systems producing AP-238 and CNCs processing it, the following talks were given.

• Sid Venkatesh of Boeing began the session with some opening remarks. [PPT, 60k].
• David Odendahl of Boeing gave some background and reported on his experiences during implementation tests in Tulsa. [PPT, 340k]. The following AVIs are also used by his presentation. Gantry.avi and Rotary.avi.
• Martin Hardwick of STEP Tools discussed the scope of the STEP-NC AP-238 standard and software tools for deploying AP-238. [PPT, 450k].

The Details

Four CAD/CAM systems produced AP-238 machining programs for milling a 5-Axis test part (an NAS 979 circle/diamond/square with an inverted NAS 979 cone test in the center). Each of these was then run on a pair of CNCs configured for completely different machine geometries (AB tool tilt vs. BC table tilt).

In addition to the activities in Florida, Boeing cut actual parts on a variety of machines at the Tulsa facility as well as a machine at NIST in Gaithersburg.

These are two of the machined circle/diamond/square and sample aerospace parts produced during the tests. The walls of the sample aerospace part may look vertical but actually have subtle 1-2 degree inclinations that require 5-axis machining. In addition there are several holes in the walls that must be drilled at odd angles.