CNC Basic Mechanical Engineering - What Is CNC In Mechanical Engineering

CNC Basic Mechanical Engineering – What Is CNC In Mechanical Engineering | Computer Numerical Control

2021.2.27

As industries become more automated, the demand for CNC mechanical engineering services has increased significantly. This article explains the basic CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mechanical engineering and what is CNC in mechanical engineering.

CNC In Mechanical Engineering

In conventional machining operations, an operator need to guide the tool and work piece for machining, but in Numerical Control which is also called NC.

– The machine is operated automatically by means of directly inserted code numerical instructions.

– CNC is not a particular machining method but a concept of automated machine control.

– NC is a programmable automation of machine tool in which the manufacturing process is controlled by numbers letters and symbols. But NC is not limited to machine tool, it can be applied to forming and join processes as well.

Basic NC Mechanical Engineering

A NC system depicted here:

The product drawing and the process planning are finalized, then the program is prepared by a programmer. The program is coded into numerical instructions and recorded into a medium like magnetic tape or a punched tape. The tape is fed to control unit, read the instructions line by line and send these instructions to the position control unit. The position control unit controls the motion of the workpiece and to in axis. The feedback signal (contains position information of the workpiece and tool) is sent from the machine tool to the control unit. The feedback signal helps the control unit to correct the position of tool and work piece if required.

In computer numerical control or CNC, the numerical control of machine tool is performed by using instructions from connected computer, the hardware of a NC machine like the magnetic tape, the tape reader, etc. are eliminated. The control unit of a NC machine is replaced by a dedicated computer. The computer in the CNC machine performed one particular task or a group of related tasks. The part program for controlling the machine tool is input and stored in the computer. The computer processes this program data and convert it into a form of usable by machine. The CNC system performs all the functions of an NC system in accordance with the stored program but with greater convenience.