General method of post-processing for non-orthogonal five-axis machine tools with dual rotary tables

For the non-orthogonal five-axis machine tools with dual rotary tables, an inverse kinematics method is proposed, which deals with the transformation matrix from a workpiece coordinate system to a machine tool coordinate system. This method is also applicable for the orthogonal and non- orthogonal five-axis machine tools with dual rotary tables, rotary table-tilted head and dual tilted heads. The general structure of the non-orthogonal five-axis machine tools with dual rotary tables is developed according to the structural features of the machine tools. The mapping relationship between the coordinates of motion and the cutter location data is developed based on the rotation transformation of a point around an arbitrary line. And the translational coordinates and the rotational coordinates of machine tools are calculated. The singular position of the machine axes is analyzed according to the determining of rotation coordinate of c-axis. And the solution for the singularity problem is presented. The toolpaths of the integral impeller machining are posted with the proposed method. And the simulation experiment is carried out on the Vericut 7.0 software which verifies the feasibility and the efficiency of the general post-processing method.