Collision and interference correction for impeller machining with non-orthogonal four-axis machine tool

Aiming at the four-axis machining with inclined rotary working table, an approach for collision and interference correction is proposed in this paper. Based on the principle that the tool axis vector is limited in the corresponding rotation plane of four-axis machine tools, collision and interference can be eliminated by using the rotation of the ellipse which is the intersection of the plane and the cutter surface. And the minimum necessary rotation angle for the cutter to eliminate interference is obtained by solving the quartic polynomial equations with numerical method. Finally, the process techniques involved in impeller machining with non-orthogonal four-axis machine tools are developed thoroughly, and the experiments of free-form centrifugal impeller machining are rendered with details. Experiment results show that the approach is an effective approach to detect collision and avoid interference for four-axis machining and it can be directly implemented into current CAD/CAM software to promote impeller machining in industry.