5-Axis Control Machining with Top and Side Cutting Edges
of Ball End Mill
Y.Takeuchi, M.Nagasaka and K.Morishige
Jounal of Advanced Automation Technology, Vol.8, No.1 (1996) 30-36
5-axis control machining is usually carried out by use of either the top
cutting edge or side cutting edge of a tool. The spherical cutting edge
of a ball end mill as a top cut allows almost any kind of shape to be formed.
However, a top cut sometimes shows low surface roughness and efficiency
in comparison with a side cut. Thus, the study presents the development
of a new machining method using both a top cut and a side cut continuously,
taking account of advantages of the two cutting methods. In this machining,
the side cut is preferentially employed in terms of cutting efficiency
since the pick feed can generally be set larger than for the case of
a top cut when the cusp height on the workpiece surfaces is kept constant.
The side cut is continuously switched over to the top cut when the former
cannot cope with workpieces having such surfaces as concave and/or
overhanging ones. The control program developed on the basis of the above
concept generates collision-free tool paths which are converted into actual
NC data by a post-processor. From two kinds of cutting experiments,
it is found that the method proposed is valid for 5-axis control machining.
http://www.ims.mce.uec.ac.jp/
1996, by K.Morishige