No abstract

In process planning of machined part, three-dimensional process intermediate models are necessary for process design, documentation, and downstream applications including clamping design, NC programing, and process analysis. An automatic process intermediate model generation method is proposed in this paper for machined part represented in B-Rep solid model. Machining features are recognized and classified according to process type. Process plan is expressed in terms of machining features and feature surface modification operations in solid model. Local modification operations are applied to part model to move, replace or remove feature surface resembling machining process. Process intermediate models are generated automatically in a batch manner by applying geometry and topology modification operations directly on B-Rep model for each machining operation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in a CAPP tool developed in solid modeler ACIS.

A novel laser induced metallization (LIM) is developed for 3 dimensional molded interconnect devices (3D-MIDs). A special laser-activable solution is firstly sprayed on top of the substrate, followed by laser direct structuring (LDS) and the electroless plating. The metal patterns can be transferred from the CAD data on almost any complex surface. Compared to the direct LDS, our spray method has smaller linewidth (30 μm) and much more flexibility on the substrate choosing. For example, the substrate can be plastic, glass, or ceramic. In addition, the laser-activable solution on top of the substrate also plays a role of the insulator. As a result, the multilayer patterns can be made by simply repeating the spray method on the same surface. Moreover, since this method is capable of making patterns layer-by-layer, the capacitors and inductances can be direct integrated with the circuit design. In this report, a 2G/3G/4G (all-in-one) antenna is tested by using our spray method. The return loss reaches the 3:1 VSWR standard, and the radiation efficiency is larger than 60% within the operation frequency.