Optimization of cutter posture based on cutting force prediction for five-axis machining with ball-end cutters

Abstract

In process planning for five-axis machining, the key issue is the determination of cutter postures (orientations). In this paper, a simulation-based method is proposed to identify cutter postures that produce minimum deflection cutting force. The method applies to the finish machining process, where only the ball part of the cutter will be engaged with the workpiece. For ball-end cutters, with change of cutter postures, the shape of the engagement region between the cutter and workpiece remains the same. Only the distribution of the engagement region on the cutter surface will change. Based on this principle, a method to transform engagement information between cutter postures is proposed, to eliminate the demand for repeated engagement calculation for different cutter postures. As a result, the computational loads of cutting force calculation for different cutter postures are greatly reduced, which enables us to deploy evolutionary algorithms to search for the optimal cutter posture at a reasonable computational cost.