A cutter orientation modification method for the reduction of non-linearity errors in five-axis CNC machining

In the machining of sculptured surfaces, five-axis CNC machine tools provide more flexibility to realize the cutter position as its axis orientation spatially changes. Conventional five-axis machining uses straight line segments to connect consecutive machining data points, and uses linear interpolation to generate command signals for positions between end points. Due to five-axis simultaneous and coupled rotary and linear movements, the actual machining motion trajectory is a non-linear path. The non-linear curve segments deviate from the linearly interpolated straight line segments, resulting in a non-linearity machining error in each machining step. These non-linearity errors, in addition to the linearity error, commonly create obstacles to the assurance of high machining precision. In this paper, a novel methodology for solving the non-linearity errors problem in five-axis CNC machining is presented. The proposed method is based on the machine type-specific kinematics and the machining motion trajectory. Non-linearity errors are reduced by modifying the cutter orientations without inserting additional machining data points. An off-line processing of a set of tool path data for machining a sculptured surface illustrates that the proposed method increases machining precision.