An approach to interference-free cutter position for five-axis free-form surface side finishing milling

This paper presents an algorithm for the interference-free cutter position in the five-axis side finishing milling of free-form surfaces. In the proposed method, the scallop height formed by two adjacent tool paths is estimated. The surfaces to be machined are divided into convex and non-convex regions. For the side milling of free-form surfaces, the tool axis is always oriented towards the direction corresponding to the minimal absolute normal curvature in order that the machining strip is as wide as possible. For convex regions, all directions in the tangent plane of the surface are gouge-free in the local sense, but the direction corresponding to the least normal curvature can ensure a wider effective strip. Without interference detection, the calculation is very fast. However, for non-convex regions, gouge detection and tool position modification are needed. The algorithm for estimating the scallop height is presented so that a reasonable arrangement of step width can be achieved.