Sculptured surface machining of spiral bevel gears with CNC milling

Gears are crucial components for modern precision machinery as at means for the power transmission mechanism. Due to their complexity and unique characteristics, gears have been designed and manufactured by a special type of machine tools, such as gear hobbing and shaping machines. In this paper, we attempt to manufacture the spiral bevel gear (SBG: the most complex type among the gear products) by a, three-axis CNC milling machine interfaced with a rotary table. This consists of (a) geometric modeling of the spiral bevel gears, (b) process planning for NC machining, (c) a tool path planning and execution algorithm for both 4-axis and 3/4-axis (three out of four axes) controls. Experimental cuts were made to ascertain the validity and effectiveness of the presented method with a CNC milling machine controlled by the 3/4-axis control mode, (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.