Interference-free tool-path generation in the NC machining of parametric compound surfaces (Q1208636)

In numerically controlled machining one moves the tool on a parallel surface to the surface desired to be milled. Since parallel surfaces (in engineering language `offset surfaces') of nonconvex surfaces have self- intersections, configurations are frequent in which it is not clear a priori that moving the tool over the entire surface will in fact lead to the desired machined shape. The author discusses a strategy, based on a triangulation of the surface to be milled, to distinguish the parts of the parallel surface that are essential for the machining process.