Constant scallop-height tool path generation for three-axis sculptured surface machining

This paper presents a new approach for the determination of efficient tool paths in the machining of sculptured surfaces using 3-axis ball-end milling. The objective is to keep the scallop height constant across the machined surface such that redundant tool paths are minimized. Unlike most previous studies on constant scallop-height machining, the present work determines the tool paths without resorting to the approximated 2D representations of the 3D cutting geometry. Two offset surfaces of the design surface, the scallop surface and the tool center surface, are employed to successively establish scallop curves on the scallop surface and cutter location tool paths for the design surface. The effectiveness of the present approach is demonstrated through the machining of a typical sculptured surface. The results indicate that constant scallop-height machining achieves the specified machining accuracy with fewer and shorter tool paths than the existing tool path generation approaches. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.