Evaluation of computer-aided manufacturing software accuracy for high precision machining

This article describes the investigation of the ability of WORKNC® Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software to generate sound toolpaths for high-precision machining. This study is being conducted in the scope of Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) manufacturing for Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) detector. By default, CAM software is configured to obtain a good compromise between accuracy and calculation time. Nevertheless, for greater accuracy, these default parameters must be tweaked. The machining of the modulations on the PIXE RFQ, which involves a shape tolerance of 10 μm, is used as a case study. The software parameters and milling strategies are evaluated in regard to the toolpath accuracy. The investigation of the successive data transformations has permitted a significant improvement of the toolpath accuracy generated by the software compared to results obtained prior to this study. The best practice that allows high-precision machining using WORKNC® is presented. Manufacturing (CAM), Machining, Accuracy