International STEP-NC Demonstration, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, June 16-18 2010

On June 16-18, 2010, the STEP Manufacturing team (ISO TC184 SC4 WG3 T24) net at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland for STEP-NC international testing and demonstration.

This round of demonstrations focused on the use of STEP-NC for tool wear management and machining a part in multiple setups with multiple alternate machining plans for 3, 4 and 5-axis machining. The "Boxy" test part for this round was a simplified gear box that must be machined on all six sides. During the live machining demonstration at the meeting, the tool wear and consequent machine loads were predicted from the STEP-NC data and verified using a dynamometer.

The technical discussions covered a range of topics, such as ways to help the operator understand the "real" tool requirements, process monitoring, machining and measurement, machine resource modeling, and the use of STEP-NC within Mil-Std 31000. Browse the minutes of the meeting for a complete list of all presentations and discussions.

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