Setup planning for machining the features of prismatic parts

This paper focus on the development of a formalized procedure for automatic generation of feasible setups and then to select an optimal setup plan for machining the features of a given prismatic part. The proposed work simultaneously considers the basic concepts of setup planning from both machining and fixturing viewpoints in order to formulate feasible setup plans. The tasks that are performed are: (a) identifying groups of features that can be machined in a single setup, (b) determining a suitable work piece orientation, i.e. the suitable datum planes for each setup, (c) determining all the feasible setup plans to machine the given set of features of prismatic parts, and (d) evaluating the feasible setup plans on the basis of technological (available tolerance) and economical conditions (total setup time). For the proposed work the authors have introduced four new concepts namely, 'surface fit for location', 'primary group' 'secondary group', and 'eligible group'. The first concept plays an important role in the identification of suitable faces of the part for positioning, clamping and supporting. The other three help in clustering of features, which can be converted in to candidate setups.