Quadric method for cutter orientation in five-axis sculptured surface machining

J Fan, Alan Ball

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Existing orientation strategies in 5-axis sculptured surface machining mostly limit the cutter to incline in one direction and lack an effective approach to assess the orientation. This paper presents the quadric method (QM) that exploits fully the two orientation angles to maximise the machining efficiency at a cutter contact point. The geometric construction assumes that the local shape of a sculptured surface can be suitably approximated by two quadrics. An upper quadric lying above the surface is used to orient the cutter, and a lower quadric lying below the surface is used to evaluate machined strip width. Then, the cutter orientation is optimised with respect to the width and is guaranteed to give no gouging. Both flat-end cutter and fillet-end cutter are considered. Simulated examples demonstrate the improved machining efficiency of the QM over current published methods. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)788-801
Number of pages14
JournalInternational Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture
Volume48
Issue number7-8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2008

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