Research on the method of precision evaluation and controlling for the cutter location path in five-axis machining

Current five-axis machining path planning is based on cutter location points, and only the scallop height of the points are calculated roughly to evaluate the planning precision, but the height of the scallop formed in the whole movement of the cutter can’t be calculated effectively, therefore, the machining precision can’t be controlled reasonably. This paper presents a new method to calculate the scallop height of the whole movement of the cutter and control the machining precision, which derives a five-axis machining cutter movement envelope equation, calculates the intersection of the cutter enveloping surfaces of adjacent paths to acquire the scallop curve and calculates the distance from the curve to the design surface to acquire the maximal height. Based on the method, the precision evaluation can be realized accurately and the machining precision can be controlled effectively by adjusting the cutter pose and optimizing the machining path interval.