Computer Aided Manufacture of Complex Extrusion Dies Using Sculptured Surface Software

Profiled extrusion dies, where the material flow is streamlined, are becoming important in the metal working industry. However, the complexity in design and manufacture of these die shapes has inhibited their wide spread industrial use. A CAD system has been developed for the design of extrusion dies and the results have been published elsewhere. The present paper describes the computer aided manufacture of these dies using two methods - the first using an APT based software package on sculptured surfaces (SSX8 developed by CAM-I) and the second using a special FORTRAN programme developed for this specific application. The input to the system is a set of data points and splines describing the geometry of the die. The output is in the form of a punched paper tape which contains details such as the tool path for the particular NC machine. The complex shape of the die presents problems for its manufacture, and these will be discussed together with possible solutions. It is concluded that the system can be effectively used for the manufacture of these complex die profiles.