Spiral cutter path planning for 5-axis machining of multi-patch island

Aiming at 5-axis ball-end milling of multi-patch island with complex topology and regarding the snubber of blade as the research object, a novel spiral cutter path planning method based on the clean-up path is presented. Firstly, according to the model, the local coordinate is constructed and then the medial axis is defined. Secondly, using the intersection algorithm between the projection line and the solid, the initial spiral path of the tool center is generated. Then, the initial path is modified by the iterative calculation with the variable step, so that the shortest distance of the tool center from the solid becomes equivalent to the tool radius within the machining accuracy. Finally, the tool axis is controlled and then the gouging-free spiral cutter path unites the snubber machining and the clean-up machining is planned. Example and experiment show that the algorithm is feasible and the tool cannot gouge the blade surface without redundant cutter retraction.