Iso-Scallop Toolpath Generation for Orthogonal Turn-Milling of Ruled Surfaces

Abstract

This paper presents a new method of computing constant scallop height tool paths for orthogonal turn-milling of ruled surfaces. Indeed, the traditional tool path generation method in orthogonal turn-milling leads to unevenly distributed scallop-height between adjacent toolpaths, which prevent from reaching the required quality. The proposed approach is adequate for orthogonal mill-turning whose toolpath topology is parallel-pattern or spiral-pattern and the constant scallop height is guaranteed by modifying the path-interval distance through adjustment of the offset distance.The machining results obtained show that this method can reduce uneven distribution of scallop height.