Reverse engineering of machining operation planning

Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) is becoming increasingly crucial to today's computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) and rapid production. To au tomate the process planning, feature-based operation planning systems have been suggested and studied extensively. In such a system, given a machining feature, the operator requires practical machining operation data for the feature. In this research, a system of reverse engineering is proposed to e xtract machining features and their associated machining operation data. Fu rthermore, a machining know-how database containing the extracted data is c reated for future operation planning. Since successful NC programs contain the machining know-how of skilled workers, the system is aimed at extractin g the machining know-how data from the NC programs through reverse engineer ing. The extraction of the machining features and feature topologies has be en addressed previously. The present paper deals with the extraction of mac hining operation data, including operation sequence, cutting conditions, ma chining type and cutting mode. A prototype of the system is developed and a machining know-how database is generated. The extraction of machining feat ures and their associated machining operations has been verified through a variety of NC programs.