PurposeComplex and exquisite patterns are sculpted on the surface to beautify the parts. Due to the thin-walled nature, the blank of the part is often deformed by the forming and clamping processes, disabling the nominal numerical control (NC) sculpting programs. To address this problem, a fast adaptive sculpting method of the complex surface is proposed.Design/methodology/approachThe geometry of the blank surface is measured using on-machine measurement (OMM). The real blank surface is

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... ucted using the non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) method. The angle-based flattening (ABF) algorithm is used to flatten the reconstructed blank surface. The dense points are extracted from the pattern on the image using the OpenCV library. Then, the dense points are quickly located on the complex surfaces to generate the tool paths.FindingsBy flattening the reconstructed surface and creating the mapping between the contour points and the planar mesh triangular patches, the tool paths can be regenerated to keep the contour of the pattern on the deformed thin-walled surface.Originality/valueThe proposed method can adjust the tool paths according to the deformation of the thin-walled part. The consistency of sculpting patterns is improved.