Design and manufacturing of parts for functional prototypes on five-axis milling machines

This paper presents the manufacturing process for complex parts in the aim of building functional prototype mechanisms. Functional prototypes are used during testing in order to validate new product design. Their layouts are very similar to the final product, wherein lies the interest of testing many modifications. The mechanism must respect the functional geometrical requirements and be capable of withstanding forces or, for example, ensuring a tight seal. The principle being proposed consists of decomposing the complex parts into several simple ones that can then be manufactured on a five-axis, high-speed milling machine from thick (approximately 40 mm) sheets made of resistant materials, notably aluminum. The problem at hand is threefold: the choice of slicing in order to avoid cutting functional areas; the choice of both positioning mode and sheet fastening mode; and lastly, the choice of machining process. This paper also presents a detailed application with a machining simulation, using CATIA (Dassault Systèmes) for a five-axis MIKRON UCP 710 milling machine.