A morphing machining strategy for artificial bone

Abstract

In this work, a novel morphing machining strategy (MMS) is proposed. In the method, the workpiece is progressively carved out from the stock. Pitfalls in conventional iso-height strategy, such as sharp edges and unevenly distributed left-over materials, are overcome. Moreover, to calculate different levels in the MMS, an energy-based morphing algorithm is proposed. Finally, the proposed strategy is employed in the machining of artificial bone represented by a T-spline surface. The excellent properties of T-spline, such as expressing complex shapes with a single surface, have been well adopted to artificial bone fabrication. Computer simulation and the actual machining of the middle finger bone show the feasibility of the proposed strategy. © 2014 Zhejiang University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.