New Mechanistic Model to Predict Machining Time for Milling Free Form Geometries Using 4-Axis Milling

Predicting the required time to machine a component is very important for planning the production of a factory. However, in milling of free form parts, commercial CAM software are not able to estimate the time precisely. This is because the CAM does not consider individual machine limitations. This work presents a mechanistic method developed to estimate more accurate the time to mill a free form geometry using any 4-axis milling machine. The maximum error observed on experimental validation of the method was less than 6%, 200 times more accurate than commercial CAM.