CL surface deformation approach for a 5-axis tool path generation

In this paper, the 5-axis tool path that has been generated on the cutter contact (CC) surface is generated on the cutter location (CL) surface, and the CL surface deformation approach that inversely deforms the 3-axis tool path generated on the deformed CL surface to a 5-axis tool path is introduced. The CL point computation and interference check based on the CL surface is faster and more robust than that based on the CC surface. The proposed CL surface deformation approach can be used if the orientation of the cutter is predefined. By the CL surface deformation approach, the 5-axis tool path generation time can be reduced to that of a 3-axis, since the complexity of a CL surface deformation is linear and because the 3-axis tool path generation and gouge removal algorithms are used at the deformed CL surface .