Design for Machining Processes
Design for machining is a design strategy that aims to reduce the cost and time of manufacturing a product by minimizing the amount of material removal and machining operations. Some of the best practices for design for machining include:
- Use standard shapes and sizes of raw materials whenever possible or create the desired shape by forming methods such as bending, stamping, or forging, rather than by machining.
- Specify the loosest tolerances that still meet the functional requirements of the product, as tighter tolerances increase the machining time and complexity.
- Avoid sharp internal corners and other features that require turning, as they can cause stress concentration, tool wear, and surface defects. Instead, use chamfers or radii to smooth out the transitions.
- For milling operations, round out the external corners and avoid narrow or deep features that require small or long cutting tools. Smaller tools have lower feed rates and higher deflection, which can affect the accuracy and quality of the machined part.
- Specify fillets and other radii based on the available sizes of the cutting tools, rather than arbitrary values. This can reduce the number of tools needed and simplify the machining process.