Design of component layout and tool path for machining multiple components

In machining muliple components fixed on the same pallet of a NC machine, it is very important to minimize the total time required to finish the machining by carefully determining the component layout on the pallet, and the tool path of NC machine, and the sequence of tools to be used. In this paper, a linear integer programming model is presented to obtain an efficient layout; and a two-phased heuristic algorithm is proposed to minimize the total time for machining multiple components. Numerical examples are given for the case of identical components and nonidentical components, respectively. The result of either case shows significant reduction of 7.2~15.0% in the total time required to finish the machining.