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The possibilities for application of STEP-NC in actual production conditions

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Abstract

With the rapid advancement of internet technologies (IT) and computer numerical control (CNC) technologies, the production environment has significantly changed in the last two decades. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 6983 (Gcode), which is still being used as a link between computer aided design/computer aided process planning/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAPP/CAM) and CNC system, represents an obstacle for the full integration of design and manufacturing. The result of efforts to eliminate these obstacles and shortcomings of developed standards for data exchange and sharing is the development of (STEP-ISO 10303) standard, as well as its extension to numerical control STEP-NC. This paper shows the current possibility of implementing STEPNC in integration of computer aided technologies CAx and CNC systems in actual production conditions. Two scenarios represent a new approach to programming CNC machine tools using the STEP-NC protocol, which is explained in detail with IDEF0 diagrams, with defining necessary equipment and software. Implementation of the STEP-NC protocol described by the integration definition for function modeling (IDEF0) methodology was experimentally verified on specific examples for both scenarios, with the application of available CAD/CAM systems and the STEP-NC machine software, as well as appropriate virtual and physical CNC machine tools.

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Correspondence to Dejan Lukic.

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Recommended by Associate Editor Young Whan Park

Dejan Lukic is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His current research interests are process planning, manufacturing optimization, DfMA and CAD/CAPP/CAM/CNC integration.

Sasa Zivanovic is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia. His current research interests are machine tools, parallel kinematic machine tools, robots for machining, STEP-NC, CAD/CAM, Wire EDM.

Jovan Vukman is an Research Assistant at Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His current research interests are process planning, manu-facturing optimization, thin-wall machining, STEP and CAD/ CAPP/CAM integration.

Mijodrag Milosevic is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His main field of interest is on process planning, CAPP systems and implementation of Inter- net technologies in production engineering.

Stevo Borojevic is an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His current research interest are process planning, manufacturing systems and CAD/CAPP/ CAM.

Aco Antic is an Associate Professor at Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His research and scientific field is machine tools, flexible manufacturing systems and automation design processes.

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Lukic, D., Zivanovic, S., Vukman, J. et al. The possibilities for application of STEP-NC in actual production conditions. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 3317–3328 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0634-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0634-6

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