A novel 2.5D machining feature recognition method based on ray blanking algorithm

Feature recognition (FR) is one of the main tasks involved in computer-aided design, computer aided process planning, and computer-aided manufacturing systems. Conventional FR methods have topology, voxel, and pixel as model input data, which are rule-based, body decomposition-based, and neural network-based, respectively. However, FR methods are mostly applied to identify geometric features and are rarely manufacturing oriented. Recognizable feature types depend on the establishment of a feature database, which can easily lead to complex FR errors or omissions. This study proposes a novel recognition method for the general machining feature of 2.5-axis, one of the basic and commonly encountered feature types in manufacture industries. A novel ray fading algorithm is proposed to calculate the feature machining direction, and the type of 2.5-axis machining features is determined by both machining direction and topology. Features with machining directions can effectively assist the intelligent process planning to reduce the clamping changes and can potentially lead to significant time reduction for part machining.