Lee 1997

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Surface interrogation and

machining strip evaluation
for 5-axis CNC die and mold
machining
Y.-S. Lee & H. Ji
Published online: 14 Nov 2010.
To cite this article: Y.-S. Lee & H. Ji (1997) Surface interrogation and
machining strip evaluation for 5-axis CNC die and mold machining, International
Journal of Production Research, 35:1, 225-252, DOI: 10.1080/002075497196064
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/002075497196064
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IN T. J. PROD . RES., 1997, VOL . 35, N O. 1, 225±252
Surface interrogation and machining strip evaluation for 5-axis CNC die
and mold machining
Y.-S. LEE² * and H. JI²
This research is focused on the investigation of robust surface interrogation tools

which can support the planning and programming of 5-axis die/mold surface
machining. Surface curvature information is evaluated to determine optimal tool
orientation for 5-axis machining. A method for calculating machining strip width
is proposed for 5-axis cutter path generation. This paper is focused on the
development of computational geometry techniques and their application to

design, analysis, and manufacturing automation. The proposed planning and
programming methodology consists of three phases: (1) surface interrogation;
(2) machining strip width evaluation; and (3) optimum tool orientation for 5-axis
machining. This proposed research can be used to improve the quality of 5-axis
die/mold machining.
1. Introduction
Sculptured surfaces, or so-called free-form surfaces, are commonly used in the
aerospace, automotive, and die/mold manufacturing industry. These surfaces usually
have free-formed geometry of complex shapes and are di cult to be machined
(Kuragano et al. 1988). Sculptured surface objects are usually produced from a raw
stock by 2 12D roughing and 3-axis or 5-axis ® nishing (Held 1991). In aerospace
industry, it takes tens or even hundreds of hours to machine a free-form surface part
from a solid block and, in many cases, it takes weeks in preparing detailed operation
plans and NC part programs for sculptured surface machining. One of the main
obstacles, which prevents the implementation of entirely automatic manufacturing of
free-form objects, is the lack of robustness of the interrogation tools to support the
planning and programming for the manufacturing process.
To produce the mold or die e ciently, the bulk waste materia l is removed from
the workpiece during the roughing cut. A large cutting tool is used with a loose
tolerance to reduce the number of path sweeps, so that the waste materia l is removed
as rapidly as possible. Because bulk materia l is removed, the rough cut is carried out
slice by slice (Lee et al. 1992). Roughing is actually done by a series of 2 12D pocket
machining based on oŒsetting the boundary or using Voronoi diagrams (Altan et al.
1993, Lee and Chang 1994).
In ® nishing, a smaller cutting tool is used to mill the roughly cut workpiece to a
® ner ® nish. The general method of 3D ® nishing of a free-form surface is to use a ball
endmill to trace along the part surface by maintaining an acceptable tolerance (Chang
et al. 1991). Gouging is the main problem in 3D ® nishing. When a ball endmill cutter
is used, the cutter radius must be smaller than the smallest radius of concave
curvature to avoid gouging (Lee and Chang 1991). Choi and Jun (1989) introduced
R eceived June 1995.

² D epartment of Industrial Engineering, North Carolina State U niversity, R aleigh, N C
27695-7906 , U SA.
*To whom correspondence should be addressed.
0020 ±7543/96 $12.00 1997 Taylor & Francis Ltd.
226 Y .-S. Lee and H. Ji
an algorithm which avoids gouging by comparing each cutter contact (CC) point with
adjacent CC points which locate within the projection of the ball endmill on the XY-
plane. Another approach is to use a polygon oŒset surface to verify gouging
(Kuragano et al. 1988). When there is a self-intersectio n in the polygon oŒset surface,
the portion bounded by the self-intersectio n lines is trimmed oŒ. The existing methods
rely on discrete point data approximation, which does not guarantee the avoidance of
gouging. Consequently, a robust procedure to extract machining constraints directly
from a free-form surface description is desirable.
The increasing complexity of free-form parts makes the potential bene® ts of 5-axis
milling continuously grow. Some tool and die makers have found that, by changing
from 3-axis to 5-axis milling, e ciency gains of 10±20´ could be achieved (Vickers
and Quan 1989). However, 5-axis CAM software is still expensive and often lacks
¯ exibility when specifying the tool orientation for machining. In theory, 5-axis CNC
machining oŒers many advantages over conventional 3-axis CNC machining, includ-
ing higher productivity and better machining quality. In practice, 5-axis machining
suŒers from a number of drawbacks, which are mostly related to complex tool
movements, gouging and tool interference (Li and Jerard 1993, Lee and Chang
1995a). Because of the two additional degrees of freedom compared to 3-axis
machining, 5-axis machining has brought advantages and added ¯ exibility as well
as new problems, such as insu cient support by conventional CAD and CAM
systems, highly complex algorithms for gouging avoidance and collision detection
between the tool and the non-machined portion of the workpiece.
The di culties inherent in the conventional CAD /CAM systems for die/mold
manufacturing are mainly due to the way in which free-form surfaces are represented.
The current parametric surface representation may be a good choice for CAD, but it
may not be good for manufacturing and process planning purposes (Marshall and
Gri ths 1994). There has been considerable progress in the area of solid topology and
surface modelling, but the developments have been mainly with CAD application s in
mind. User interaction is needed to generate a NC part program for sculptured
surface machining, which requires considerable checking, veri® cation, and rework
(Lee and Chang 1995b). Manual planning and programming for sculptured surface
machining is known to be error-prone and ine cient. These problems must be solved
in order that the full advantages of 5-axis machining can be exploited more widely.
This research is focused on the investigation of robust surface interrogation tools
which can support the planning and programming of 5-axis die/mold surface
machining. The proposed planning and programming tool consists of three phases:
(1) surface interrogation; (2) machining strip width evaluation; and (3) optimum tool
orientation for 5-axis machining. This proposed research can be used to improve the
quality of 5-axis CNC machining.
2. Free-form surface design and die machining

In die-mold design and manufacturing, the surfaces are designed by means of
detailed ¯ uid-¯ ow simulations. Such simulations usually yield ordered sets of discrete
streamline points, which must then be surfaced by a geometric modelling system. F or
interpolating regular point arrays, tensor-product spline methods are suitable (Choi
1991). Free-form surfaces are formulated as networks of parametric rational poly-
nomial patches.
F ree-form surfaces usually have irregular curvature distribution which causes
di culty in machining. To mill a surface the CAD/CAM system moves the cutter
Surface interrogation tools 227
along a number of curves, usually iso-parametric curves or projection curves on the

surfaces. However, these algorithms were found to be unreliable, and failures were
ultimately traced to localized anomalies in the surface that were di cult to detect
(Altan et al. 1993). Such problems can be bypassed a priori by performing detailed
analyses on surfaces to be machined (Kim 1993, Stone et al. 1989). Such an analysis
reveals the variation of geometric characteristics across the surface and can be used to
support the planning and generation of machining instructions. F or example, the
extreme values of the principal curvatures constrain the tool size for gouge-free
milling, as will be discussed in a later section.
In die/mold machining, scallops are produced between the successive tracks
machined on the surface. The height of these scallops depends on the type of cutting
tool, its dimensions, its tool orientation and the distance between the cutter paths
(Kim and Chu 1994). Gouging is the one of the most critical problems in N C
machining of free-form surfaces. Surface curvature plays a key role in selecting the
cutter size to avoid gouging (Lee and Chang 1996a). It is very important to determine
the distribution of the principal surface curvatures, which are the upper and lower
bounds of curvature at a given surface (Barnhill 1989). DiŒerent types of surface
curvatures can be found from surface description. The Gaussian, mean and principal
curvatures are used for the detection of surface irregularit y (F aux and Pratt, 1981,
Munchmeyer 1987). Graphic displaying has been used to display the variation of
surface curvature (Beck et al. 1986). Colour displaying provides an appreciatio n of the
diŒerential properties of surfaces but is not su cient to provide detailed machining
information nor permit automation of the machining process. The set of curvature
limits of a smooth surface should coincide with the designer’ s intention. Manufactur-
ing engineers would bene® t from prior knowledge of the distribution of the surface
curvature. Therefore, computation of all limits of surface properties is desired.
3. Surface interrogation by diŒerential geometry

Surface interrogation aims at the extraction of geometric properties of surfaces to
support the planning and programming of complex surface machining. If robustness
of interrogation tools is not guaranteed, then the design or manufacturing engineers
need to manually or visually verify the results and use exceedingly sub-optimal
procedures, which is a trial-and-error iteration which prolongs the product develop-
ment cycle (Li and Jerard 1993). Elber and Cohen (1993) proposed a method using
symbolic and numeric methods to partition a parametric surface into three disjoint
trimmed surfaces, i.e. convex, concave, and saddle, and to determine global bounds
on surface curvatures. Regions with small curvature (i.e. relatively ¯ at region) can
be accurately milled faster with larger ball end-mill cutters. Tool changes should be
minimized because they are non-pro® t-added operations. Such minimizatio n can be
achieved by subdividing the surface into regions with diŒerent curvature bounds, each
of which can be milled using tools appropriate to that region.
A robust surface interrogation tool is one of the most important factors for
automated solution procedures and deserves more attention in research. Surface
interrogation can be done by detailed analysis of surfaces using diŒerential geometry.
In the following text, some techniques of surface diŒerential geometry that will be of
subsequent use are introduced.
3.1. Parametric surface and surface property

A parametric free-form surface can be de® ned as a vector-valued mapping from
two-dimensional parametric uv-space to a set of three-dimension al coordinates. In

general, a cubic Bezier surface R (u, v) is described as the following (Choi 1991):
R (u, v) = UMBM V
T T
(1)
where 0< u< 1, 0< v< 1,
U = [1u u 2u 3 ], V = [1v v 2v 3 ],
M = é
| -
|
|
1
3
0
3
0
0
0
0 ||ù
|, B=
é
|
|
|
V00
V10
V01
V11
V02
V12
V03
ù
V13 ||
|.
ë û ë û
3 - 6 3 0 V20 V21 V22 V23
- 1 3 - 3 1 V30 V31 V32 V33

B is the matrix of the control vertices, and M is the coe cient matrix. All the surface
points on a sculptured surface can be calculated by using equation (1). At any point of
a surface R (u, v), the following three vectors can be calculated:
R u ´ Rv
Ru =¶ R (u, v)
, Rv =
¶ R (u, v) ,
n= (2)
¶ u ¶ v | R u ´ Rv |
where R u and R v are the tangent vectors along u- and v-parametric directions and n is
the normal vector. The three local vectors R u , R v and n form a coordinate system,
called the Gauss frame.
There are important geometric structures, the ® rst and the second fundamental
forms, de® ned by the surface. The shape of the surface is completely characterized by
these two fundamental forms (F aux and Pratt 1981). The ® rst and second funda-
mental forms G and H form the basis for de® ning and analysing the surface
curvature. The ® rst fundamental form G is de® ned as
Ru Ru Ru Rv
G= . (3)
Rv Ru Rv Rv
The second fundamental form H is de® ned as:
n R uu n R uv
H = . (4)
n R uv n R vv
Using the ® rst and second fundamental forms G and H , several important geometric
properties can be described. An important geometric measure of surfaces is the
Gaussian curvature j G , as shown in the following:
j = |H | (5)
G
|G|
The Gaussian curvature j G describes the local shape of a surface. Another curvature
measure is given by the M ean curvature j M as de® ned in the following (Choi 1991):
= [n R uu )(R v R v ) - ] 2[(n ] [ ]
( R uv )(R u R v ) + (n R vv )(R u R u )
j (6)
2|G|
M
The mean curvature measures the deviation of a surface from the minimal surface:
these are surfaces with mean curvature equal to zero everywhere. Minimal surfaces
correspond to the surface formed by a soap bubble between four boundary curves.
3.2. Surface classi® cation based on surface property

The ® rst fundamental form G provides metrical properties of surfaces such as
measurement of lengths, areas and angles between two curves on the surface. The
second fundamental form H describes the nature of the surface in the vicinity of the
point at R (u, v) (Marciniak 1991). To optimally machine the surface, the free-form
surface is classi® ed according to its geometric shape. To classify the surface, a value
is de® ned as:
= det H = (n R uu )(n R vv ) - (n R uv )(n R vu ) (7)
The surface points are classi® ed into four diŒerent types, depending on the values of
, j M and j G , as shown in the following (Marciniak 1991).
·
Convex elliptic point: If < 0 and j M < 0, the surface lies entirely on the
surface normal side (n) of the tangent plane in its neighbourhood. Both the
principal curvatures are negative (i.e. j G > 0 and j M < 0).
· Concave elliptic point: If < 0 and j M > 0, the surface lies entirely on the
opposite side (- n) of the tangent plane in its neighbourhood. Both the principal
curvatures are positive (i.e. j G > 0 and j M > 0).
· Hyperbolic point ( Saddle point) : If > 0, the surface lies entirely on both sides
of the tangent plane in its neighbourhood. Both the principal curvatures have
diŒerent signs (i.e. j G < 0).
· Parabolic point: If = 0, the surface is a parabolic point. There is at least a
single line in the tangent place along which the curvature is zero (i.e. j G = 0).
The ability to classify sculptured surfaces into diŒerent regions can be used to ® nd
optimal tools in milling free-form surfaces. Convex and relatively ¯ at regions can be
machined using ¯ at-end cutters in milling free-form surfaces. Regions with small
curvature can be accurately milled faster with larger ball-end cutter. Since tool
changes are non-pro® t-added operations, they should be minimized . M inimization
can be achieved by subdividing the surface into regions with diŒerent curvature
bounds, each of which can be milled using tools appropriate to that region.
3.3. Principal surface curvature map

At each pont of a nonsingular parametric surface R (u, v), a unique unit normal
vector n is de® ned by equation (2). The family of planes containing the normal n at the
given point cut the surface in a family of normal section curves for that point. The
curvature of the normal section curve is called the normal curvature j n . The two
extreme values (maximum and minimum) of the normal curvature are called the
principal curvatures, j max and j min . The principal curvatures j max and j min serve as
bounds on the components of curvature not in the tangent plane. At a given point on
a surface, the two extreme principal curvatures, j max and j min , are given by (Faux and
Pratt 1981):
------------------
j max =j G +
Öj 2
M - j G
------------------
(8)
j min =j G -
Öj 2
M - j G (9)
In equations (8) and (9), the positive normal curvature j n is de® ned as the centre of
curvature which lies on the same side of the surface to the surface (concave), and
negative curvature when both lie on the diŒerent sides (convex). The radius of the
circle that best approximates the normal section curve, or the radius of curvature, is
de® ned as q = |j 1n |.
Surface curvature analysis is a particular ly adequate tool to support the planning
and manufacturing of complex surfaces encountered in CAPP and CAM applica-
tions. As a general remark, surface curvature analysis is very sensitive to the surface
geometric characteristics. It reveals surface imperfection s that are not detected by
other methods, e.g. visual evaluation, inspection of re¯ ection lines or contour lines
(Barnhill 1989). The re¯ ection lines provide a good idea of the global shape of the
surface, whereas curvature plots give detailed local information.
In this paper, we apply the surface interrogation techniques to analyse complex
surface curvature contours for global shape information and for detailed local
information to support the planning and programming of sculptured surface machin-
ing. For manufacturing applications, principal curvatures are of primary interest since
they convey information about surface geometry. In this paper, the principal curvature
map is constructed using the surface patch subdivision method to support the planning
and programming of 5-axis machining, which will be discussed in §4 and 5.
4. Five-axis die surface machining

In NC machining, a standard endmill is generally far more e cient than a ball
endmill. The e ciency of endmill cutting is reported to be ten to twenty times that of
ball-endmill cutting (Vickers and Quan 1989). This is mainly due to the number of
paths needed to obtain small cusps and the cutting ine ciency of a ball-endmill which
has a low speed cutting region on its bottom. If one can control an endmill to ® t free-
form surfaces optimally, it will be possible to accomplish higher e ciency and better
surface quality in ® nishing free-form surfaces (Marciniak 1991, Jensen and Andersen
1992, Altan et al. 1993). In this section, geometric techniques to understand the
eŒective cutting shape and machining strip of 5-axis machining are presented. U sing
F igure 1. Coordinate systems and inclined tool in 5-axis machining.

the proposed technique, machined surface errors in 5-axis machining are analysed
and path intervals for optimal tool path generation can be determined.
4.1. EŒective cutting shape

In 5-axis machining, it is easier to de® ne the tool orientation based on the local
surface property than using the machine coordinate system (Lee and Chang 1996a). A
local coordinate system is de® ned to analyse the cutting operation. As shown in F ig. 1,
the local coordinate system is represented by X L , Y L and Z L axes. The X L -axis is
always lying in the current cutting direction, and the Y L -axis is always lying in the
local surface normal direction. The Z L -axis is determined by the cross product of the
X L and XL axes. In 5-axis machining, the tool is ® rst rotated by an inclinatio n angle
k L about the Z L axis, then a tilt angle !L about the Y L axis, as shown in F ig. 1. A
cutter location in the local coordinate system is de® ned as (x , y, z, k , !)L .

U sing an end-mill cutter as shown in F ig. 1, the radius of an endmill is assumed to
be r. On the bottom edge of the cutter, h is the angle from the Z t axis to point P on the
p p p
cutter edge. Point P (x L , y L , z L ), where the subscript L means it is in the local
coordinate system, at the cutting edge F (k L , !L , h )L can be represented by the
following equation (Lee and Chang 1996a):
æ öæ ö
p
xL r cosk L cos!L sinh - r cosk L cos !L - r sin !L cos h
| | | |
)L = | p | = | |
è ø è ø
F (k L, !L h yL - r sink L sin h + r sink L (10)
p
zL r cosk L sin!L sin h - r cosk L sin !L + r cos !L cos h L
As shown in F ig. 1, the cutting position O L is de® ned to be located as h = p2. To

estimate the machined surface error, the cutter edge F (k L , !L , h )L is projected along
the cutting direction X L -axis onto the Y L - Z L plane to ® nd the EŒective Cutting
Shape E (h ). As shown in F ig. 2, the cutter edge F 1 ( k L , !L , h )L at cutting position C l is
Projecting cutter edge F l along cutting direction ( X® lL ) to get E l (h ).

-
F igure 2.
F igure 3. Local surface curvature normal to cutting direction.
projected along the current cutting direction X® 1L on to the Y lL - Z lL plane as the

eŒective cutting shape E l (h ). The eŒective cutting shape is found from equation (10)
as:
= æ öæ
|
0
|
= |
0
ö |
è ø è ø
p
E 1 (h ) L yL - r sink L sin h + r sink L . (11)
p
zL r cosk L sin !L sin h - r cosk L sin !L + r cos !L cos h L
The eŒective cutting shape E l (h ) is used later to ® nd the machining strip width for
tool path generation.
4.2. L ocal surface curvature normal to the cutting direction

The surface normal is considered positive if pointing out of the materia l and the
curvature is said to be positive if it bends towards the surface normal. The principal
curvatures can be calculated by equations (8) and (9). The directions of the principal
curvatures Kmax and Kmin are called the principal directions and are orthogonal to each
block (Beck et al. 1986). A principal coordinate system X p - Y p - Z p is de® ned based
on the principal curvatures in which X p -axis and Z p -axis lie along the two principal
directions, as shown in F ig. 3. The cutting directions X L may not be in the principal
direction (X p or Z p direction). As shown in F ig. 3, the cutting direction XL has an
angle a from the principal direction X p . The surface curvature on the Y L - Z L plane
normal to the cutting direction X L is denoted as j , as shown in Fig. 3.
To estimate the machined surface error, the surface surrounding the cutter contact
point C* can be approximated by a quadratic equation (Marciniak 1991). The second
order derivatives of the surfaces are assumed to be continuous around the contact
point. As shown in F ig. 3, the shape of the local surface near the point C* can be
approximated by a quadratic equation in the principal coordinate system:
Yp =j max 2
Xp +
j min 2
Z p. (12)
2 2
Depending on the signs and values of j max and j min , the above equation may represent
convex elliptic, concave elliptic, hyperbolic, or parabolic region. The oŒset surface in
the local coordinate system can be found by coordinate transformation as:
Xp = cos a XL - sin a Z L ; (13)

Yp = YL ; (14)
Z p = sin a XL + cos a Z L . (15)
Substituting equations (13), (14) and (15) into equation (12) with an oŒset distance
(tolerance) h, one can get the oŒset surface as following:
( ) )
2 2 2 2
j cos a + j min sin a j min sin a + j min cos a
YL = max 2
XL + ZL
2
2 2
- (j max - j min )sin a cos a XL Z L + h. (16)

As shown in F ig. 3, the oŒset curve on the Y L - Z L plane can be found by setting
X L = 0 in equation (16) and it becomes:
( )
2 2
j sin a + j min cos a
YL = max 2
ZL + h (17)
2
As shown in Fig. 3, the curvature on the Y L - Z L plane can be calculated as:
j =j min cos
2
a + j max sin
2
a , where a = cos - 1 (®X ®X ).
p L
(18)
The radius of curvature at cutter contact point C* on the Y L - Z L plane is j1 . If the

current cutting direction (X L ) is the same as the principal direction (X P ), the angle a
equals to 0.0 and the curvature j equals to j min , as shown in F ig. 3.
4.3. Evaluation of machining strip width

D uring machining, a surface tolerance h is given to maintain the machined surface
accuracy. The maximum acceptable machined surface error has to be within the given
surface tolerance h, as shown in Fig. 4. To achieve the machined surface accuracy,
tool orientation and cutter path distribution have to be determined to ensure the
machined surface errors are smaller than the given tolerance h. D uring the machining,
the range of the machined region that lies within the required tolerance is called the
machining strip width w, as shown in Fig. 4. To generate cutter paths to maintain the
machined surface quality, the machining strips of the two adjacent cutter paths have
to overlap with each other to ensure no machined surface error exceeds the tolerance
limit. To maximize the machining e ciency, cutter path and tool orientation should
be selected to make the machining strip width w as wide as possible (hence, less
machining passes and shorter machining time).
As shown in F ig. 4, the local surface curvature (normal to the cutting direction
X L ) is j and the radius of curvature is j1 . A local coordinate system is de® ned on the
cutter contact point C*, as shown in F ig. 4. An oŒset surface is generated from the
past surface by oŒsetting with the given tolerance h. An eŒective cutting edge E (h ) of
the cutter is also shown at the cutting position C*. The eŒective cutting edge E (h )
intersects the oŒset surface at points C a and C b . For the region between points Ca and
C b , the machined surface errors are within the given tolerance h, as shown in Fig. 4.
The machine strip width w can be found once the intersection points C a and C b are
a
known. Assume the point C a in the local coordinate system is represented as (x L ,
a a
y L , z L )L . F rom F ig. 4 and equation (11), C a P v and O k P v can be found as:
Ca Pv = | z aL | = | r cosk L sin !L sin h - r cosk L sin !L + r cos !L cos h |; (19)

1 1
Ok Pv = - yL
a
= + r sink L sin h - r sink L . (20)
j j
To ® nd the machining strip width, the intersections of the eŒective cutting shape E (h )
and the oŒset surface need to be calculated . By substituting equation (11) to equation
(17) and rearranging equation (17), we have the following equations:
2
D 1 sin h + D 2 sin h + D 3 sin h cos h - D 3 cos h + D 4 = 0, (21)
where
2 2 2 2
!L (kmax sin a + kmin cos 2 a )
D1 =r cos k L sin
,
2
D2 = r sink L - 2D 1 ,
D3 = r 2 cosk L cos !L sin !L (k max sin 2 a 2
+ kmin cos a ), and
D4 = h - r sink L = D 1 .
By solving the h a and h b from equation (21), the intersection points Ca and Cb can be
found, as shown in Fig. 4. To ® nd the machined surface error (or machining strip
width), we are interested in the solutions h a and h b close to the cutting position C* (at
which h = 2p ), as shown in Fig. 4. The solution h a and h b can be found by using a
numerical method to solve equation (21).
F igure 4. M achining strip width w.

By ® nding the two solution h a and h b of equation (21), the machining strip w of the
current cutting location C* with tool orientation (k L , !L ) can be calculated as
following:
wa = | z aL | = | r cosk L sin !L sin h a - r cosk L sin !L + r cos !L cos h |
a ; (22)
wb = | z bL | = | r cosk L sin !L sin h b - r cosk L sin !L = r cos !L cos h B |. (23)
The machining strip width w at the current cutting position C* with tool orientation
(k L , !L ) can be found as:
w = wa + wb . (24)
As shown in F ig. 4, wa is not always equivalent to wb if the tilt angle !L is not set to 0
(!L =/ 0). The solutions h a and h b of equation (21) can also be used to support the
calculatio n of the cusp height between two adjacent cutter paths. A technique of
calculatin g cusp height for 5-axis machining had been presented in the previous work
in (Lee and Chang 1996b) and will not be discussed in this paper.
F igure 5 shows the eŒects of surface shape on the machining strip width. The same
eŒective cutting shape E (h ) has diŒerent machining strip widths w on diŒerent surface
regions. Given the same eŒective cutting shape E (h ), the concave region (j > 0) has
the largest machining strip width and the convex region (j < 0) has the smallest
machining strip width. As shown in Fig. 5, the machining strip width w of the same
eŒective cutting shape E (h ) in diŒerent surface regions has the relationship of
(wconcave > wplanar > wconvex ).
F igure 5. M achining strip widths (w) on diŒerent surface areas.

F igure 6. EŒects of local concave shapes on machining strip widths (w).
When machining the concave (j > 0) region, tool orientatio n is changed based on
the local surface shape to avoid gouging, as being discussed in §5. The machining strip
width w becomes smaller when the same cutter is used to machine the more curved
region (higher j ). As shown in Fig. 6, the machining strip width (w2 ) of the more curved
region (j 2 > j 1 ) is smaller than that of the comparatively ¯ at region ( w2 < w1 ).
4.4. Side cutting machining strip width

When the inclinatio n angle k L is small or the tolerance h is large, it is possible that
the oŒset surface does not intersect directly with the projected eŒective cutting shape
E (h ). Instead, the oŒset surface intersects with the sides of the cutter, as shown in
F ig. 7. The side cutting occurs when the oŒset surface (with tolerance h) is higher than
the end points (P 1 or P 2 ) of the major axis. To evaluate the machining strip width w,
the intersections between the cutter sides and the oŒset surface need to be calculated if
the oŒset surface does not intersect with E (h ) directly. As shown in F ig. 7, the
eŒective cutting shape E (h ) is an ellipse and it has the major and minor axes which are
the longest and shortest axes of the ellipse E ( h ). To calculat e the side cutting strip
width, one needs to know the major and minor axes. From equations (10) and (11),
the cutter centre projected on the Y L - Z L plane is located in the local coordinate
systems (also in F ig. 1) as:
æ ö æ ö
p
xL 0
| |
è ø è ø
|
yL
p
= |
r sink L (25)
p
z L Cutter centre - r cosk L sin !L L
By equations (11) and (25), the radius of the ellipse E (h ) to the cutter centre can be
derived as:
[
q (h ) = (- r sink ]
1
L sin h )2 + (r cosk L sin !L sin h + r cos !L cos h )2 2 . (26)
F igure 7. Side cutting in 5-axis machining.
As shown in Fig. 7, the longest and shortest radius of E (h ) can be found by

diŒerentiatin g the equation q (h ) as the following:
2
dq (h ) d q (h )
= 2q = 0. (27)
dh dh
Since the function q (h ) =
/ 0, the above equation can be derived from equations
(26) and (27) as:
(sin 2 !L sin 2 k L - sin k
2
L
2 4
+ 1) sin h - (sin 2 !L sin 2 k L - sin k
2
L
2
+ 1) sin h
2
sin !L + sin !L ) = 0.
4 2 2 2 4 2
+ (sin !L sin k L - sin k L sin !L - (28)
By solving equation (28), the h major of the major axis can be solved as:
- sin !L cosk L cos !L
sin h major = ------------------------------------------------- , and cos h major = ------------------------------------------------- .
Ö 2
sin !L + cos k 2
L cos
2
!L Ö 2
sin !L + cos 2 k L cos 2 !L
(29)
And, the h minor of the minor axis can be solved as:
cosk L cos !L sin !L
sin h minor = ------------------------------------------------ , and cos h minor = ------------------------------------------------ .
Ö 2
sin !L + cos 2 k L cos 2 !L Ö sin !L + cos 2 k
2
L cos
2
!L
(30)
As shown in F ig. 7, the two end points P 1 and P 2 along the major axis of E (h ) on
Y L - Z L plane can be found by substituting h ma jor and (h major + p ) into equation
(11). The side cutting strip can be found by ® nding the intersection points S1 and S2
between the oŒsetting surface and the cutter side edges. The unit tool axis ® A with
tool orientation (k L , !L ) projected on the Y L - Z L plane can be found from F ig. 1
as:
é ù éÖ ù
0
0 | | cosk
| | L
| | |
-----------------------------------------------
® A = | yAL
ë û ëÖ
= |
|
cos 2 k L + sin k L sin 2 !L || 2
. (31)
| |
û
zAL L sink L sin !L
-----------------------------------------------
cos 2 k + sin 2 k L sin
2
L !L L
The intersection point S l can be found as the intersection between a circle and a vector
®
A starting from the end point P l , as shown in F ig. 7. The intersection point S l can be
found by equations (11) and (31) as:
é ù é ù
S T T
x lLl 0
| | ® |
= = P1 + =|
ë û
|
ë û
S1 | y lL1
S
tA ylL + t yAL , (32)
S zlL + t zAL L
z 1Ll L
where P l is found by substituting h major into equation (11). As shown in Fig. 7, the
intersection point S l is also located at the oŒset circle centred at (0, j1 , 0)L with radius
1
j - h . In the triangle O k S l P v shown in F ig. 7, the lengths of O k S l , S l P v and O k P v
can be found as:
1
Ok Sl = - h , (33)
j
S l P v = | z lLl | = | zlL = r zAL |,
S
(34)
1 1
Ok P v = =
S
- y lLl - ylL - t yAL . (35)
j j
The intersectio n point S l can be found using the relationship of O k S l P v and
equations (33)±(35). F rom O k S l P v , one has the following relationship:
( ) ( )
2 2
1 1
ylL + tyAL - + (zlL + t zAL )2 = - h and t > 0. (36)
j j
By solving equation (36), the parameter t can be found as:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --
t =
(yj
AL
- ylL yAL - zlL zAL -
Ö( yAL
j - ylL yAL - zlL zAL - (y2AL + z2AL ) y2lL + z2lL - 2 j lL - 2h
(y2AL + z2AL )
2
( y
j -
2h
j - h
2
.
(37)
The inter section point S l can be found by substituting t in to equation (32). U sing
the same method, one can ® nd another intersection point S 2 . As shown in F ig. 8,
to calculat e the machining strip width, the extreme points Q 1 and Q 2 , which are
t he ext r eme Z L va lu es of th e ellipse E (h ), need t o be found. The h E x t r eme of
these two Z L extreme points can be found by der iving Z L (h ) from eq uatio n (11)
F igure 8. Machining strip width w of the side cutting.
as following:
d (Z L (h ))
= r cosk L sin !L cos h - r cos !L sin h = 0, (38)
dh
h Extreme = tan - 1
( cosk L sin !L
cos !L )
. (39)
By substituting h Extreme into equation (11), the two extreme points Q 1 (h Extreme < p2) and
Q 2 (h Extreme > p2 ) can be found. The machining strip width w, depending on the sign of
the tilt angle !L , can be found as following (also in F ig. 8):
w = | S 1 Q 2 | = | Z S1, L - Z Q1, L | if (!L > 0), (40)
w = | Q 1 S 2 | = | Z Q1,L - Z S1, L | if (!L < 0), (41)
w = | S 1 S 2 | = | Z S1, L - Z S1,L | if (!L = 0). (42)

The calculated machining strip width can be used to determine the cutter path
distribution and optimal tool orientation in 5-axis machining.
5. Optimal tool orientation in 5-axis machining

5.1. Finding tool inclination angle
In 5-axis machining, simultaneous change of tool orientation aŒects the eŒective
cutting shape E (h ). As presented in the earlier work (Lee and Chang 1996a), the
eŒective cutting radius R eff , XL on the YL - Z L plane of a cutter with tool orientation
(k L , !L ) can be found from equation (11) as follows:
2
R eff , XL = g1 (r , k L, !L )XL = 0 = r cos !L
(43)
.
sink L
The radius of the eŒective cutting edge, R eff , Z L , in the side direction (Z L -axis) on the
XL - YL plane can also be found as:
2
R eff , Z L = g2 (r , k L , !L )Z L = 0 = r sin (44)
!L
sink L
By using equations (43) and (44), one can calculat e the eŒective cutting radius Reff , XL
and R eff , Z L in both the major and the side cutting directions. To avoid gouging, the
eŒective cutting radius R eff should be no larger than the radius of the local surface
curvature. As shown in Fig. 4, the eŒective cutting radius should be smaller than or
equal to the radius of the local surface curvature (R eff < j1 ) to avoid gouging.
G iven a cutter radius r, the minimum tool inclinatio n angle k L , min can be de® ned
by avoiding over-cutting on both X L - Y L and Y L - Z L planes. Initially, the tilt
angle !L is set to be 0. As shown in F ig. 9, if the curvature j Z L on X L - Y L plane is
F igure 9. D etermine of tool inclination angle k L based on local surface curvature.

Figure 10. Adjusting tilt angle !L to avoid local gouging.
non-positive (j ZL < 0), which means the surface is convex or planar, the tool inclinatio n
angle k L is set to a small default angle (for example, 5Ê). If the surface is concave
(j ZL > 0), the tool inclinatio n angle k L to avoid over-cutting on the X L - Y L plane can
be calculated according to the local surface curvature j ZL , as shown in Fig. 9.
= sin - é
|
1| ù ( )
r |
| 1
ë ( )û
1
k L if r< and (j ZL > 0). (45)
1 j ZL
j ZL
As shown in F ig. 10, to avoid gouging on the Y L - Z L plane, the tool inclinatio n
angle k L can be found by equating R eff , XL in equation (43) to the radius of surface
curvature j 1XL , and the inclinatio n angle k L to avoid gouging can be found as:
= sin - é
|
ù ( )
r |
| 1
ë ( )û
2 1|
k L if r< and (j XL > 0). (46)
1 j XL
j XL
The minimum tool inclinatio n angle k L , min is found from equations (45) and (46) as
following:
k L , min = MAX [k 1L , k 2
]
L . (47)
The inclinatio n angles are calculated to avoid over-cutting along both XL - and Z L -
directions, and the minimum tool inclinatio n angle k L , min is selected using equations
(45)±(47). As can be veri® ed from the above equations, to get a real solution of k L , min ,
the cutter radius should be no larger than the radius of curvature (r < j1 ). If the cutter
size r is larger than the local radius of curvature, searching for a new tilt angle !L is
needed to ensure the eŒective cutting radius Reff < j1 along both the X L - and Z L -
directions.
5.2. Finding the tilt angle

After the tool inclinatio n angle k L , min has been found, the eŒective cutting shape
E (h ) should optimally ® t into the local surface shape. The tilt angle !L is initially set
to 0. If the surface is convex or planar (j XL < 0), there is no need to tilt the tool
(!L = 0. 0). F or each 5-axis CNC machine, it has certain machine limits (k machine - limit
and !machine - limit ) of the allowable rotation range. If the inclinatio n angle k L , min found
in equation (47) exceeds the machine limit (k L , min > k machine- limit ), searching for a new
tilt angle !L as an alternative is needed.
As shown in F ig. 10, local gouging occurs when the cutter (E l ) over-cuts the
adjacent surface. The cutter can be tilted with a tilt angle !L , min to avoid gouging, as
E 2 shown in F ig. 10. If the inclinatio n angle k L , min found in equation (47) exceeds the
machine limit (k L , min > k machine - limit ), the inclinatio n angle k L is set to k machine- limit .
The new tilt angle !L , min can be determined using equations (43)±(47), as shown in the
following:
(Ö )(
--------------------------------
sin(k
)
) r 1
1
!L = cos - 1 machine - limit
if > and ( j XL > 0), (48)
rj XL sin(k machine - limit ) j XL
F igure 11. An example free-form surface.

(Ö )(
--------------------------------
sin(k
)
) r 1
2
!L = cos - 1 machine - limit
if > and (j ZL > 0), (49)
rj ZL sin(k machine- limit ) j ZL
!L , min = MAX [!1L , !2L ]. (50)

The machine limits on the allowable rotation range depend on the CNC machine and
the machining setup. Since the machine limits are machine dependent and the
coordinate transformation is beyond this paper’s scope, the detailed method of
® nding the machine limits will not be addressed in this paper. The algorithim of
determining the optimal tool orientation is shown as follows:
(i) set the default tool inclinatio n angle k L0 and tilt angle !L0 to some small
angles (for example, k L0 = 5Êand !L0 = 0Ê);
set k L ¬ k L0 and !L ¬ !L0 ;

(ii) if the surface is convex or planar (j < 0), set k L ¬ k L0 ;
else, use equations (45)±(47) to ® nd the tool inclinatio n angle k L , min ;
(iii) if (k L , min > k L0 ) and (k L , min < k machine - limit ) then set k L ¬ k L , min ;
else if (k L , min > k machine - limit ) then set k L ¬ k machine- limit ;
F igure 12. D istribution of the major principal curvature (j max ) of the example surface.
(iv) if the surface is convex or planar (j < 0), set !L ¬ !L0 ;

else if (k L , min > k machine- limit ) then use equations (48)±(50) to ® nd the tilt
angle !L , min ;
(v) If | !L , min | > | !L0 |, then set !L ¬ !L , min .
F igure 13. D istribution of the minor principal curvature (j min ) of the example surface.
F igure 14. EŒective cutting shapes of diŒerent tool orientations for 5-axis machining.
The selected tool orientation ( k L , !L ) can optimally ® t the eŒective cutting shape
E (h ) into the local surface shape in 5-axis surface machining.
6. Computer implementation and examples

The methodology proposed in this paper has been implemented using C program-
ming language on a SUN IPX workstation and is implemented as a surface
interrogation module of a planning and programming system for 5-axis CNC
machining. The control points of a designed free-form surface are ® rst input from
the CAD design model. The surface geometric properties are then evaluated to
support the cutter size selection, determinat ion of the initial tool orientation, and the
5-axis tool path generation for free-form surface machining.
F igure 11 shows a free-form surface with convex, concave and saddle regions. The
principal surface curvature distribution is evaluated . F igure 12 shows the distribution

of the major principal curvature j max . The range of the major principal curvature j max
is (- 0. 476, 2.394). As mentioned earlier, the negative surface curvature indicates a
convex area and the positive surface curvature indicates a concave area. F igure 13
shows the distribution of minor principal curvature j min . The range of the minor
principal curvature j min is (- 3. 574, 1. 193). Comparing F ig. 12 with Fig. 13, one can
F igure 15. M achining strips along a sculptured surface.

® nd the two principal curvatures j max and j min are orthogonal to each other at the
same surface point. The maximum surface curvature is 3. 574 in the concave region
which means the minimum radius of surface curvature is 0.279. The maximum cutter
size for machining the example surface can be determined based on the minimum
radius of surface curvature to avoid gouging in machining.
® ®
F igure 14 shows the diŒerent eŒective cutting shapes E (h ) on the Y L - Z L plane
with diŒerent tool orientations, using the Theorist ‡ software. F igure 14 shows the
ellipse shape cutting shape E a (h ) with (k L , !L ) = (10Ê, 10Ê). The cutting shape E b (h )
of another tool orientation, (k L , !L ) = (25Ê, 30Ê), is also shown in F ig. 14. A ball end-
mill shape is also shown in F ig. 14 for comparison. By comparing the results shown in
F ig. 14, one can ® nd that the eŒective cutting shape E (h ) changes drastically owing to
the change of tool orientation in 5-axis machining. As shown in F ig. 14, an inclined
end-mill cutter in 5-axis machining has a wider eŒective cutting shape than a ball end-
mill cutter does.
To demonstrate the machining strip width of diŒerent tool orientation, a cutter
with radius r equivalent to 0.25 unit is used and the cutter path distribution is sparse
for the comparison purpose. F igure 15 shows the machining strips along the
sculptured surface, which are evaluated using the presented technique. The tool
F igure 16. M achining strips with adjusting tool orientation by local surface property.
inclinatio n angle k L is set is 20Ê, the tilt angle !L is set to be 0Ê, and the surface
tolerance (h) is set to be 0.004 unit. As can be seen from F ig. 15, the machining strip
varies along the surface following the local surface shape. Please notice that the
machining strip becomes narrower when the cutter moves in the convex area and
becomes wider in the concave region, as shown in F ig. 15.
F igure 16 shows the machining strips on the same surface with a smaller initial
tool inclinatio n angle, (k L , !L ) = (10Ê, 0Ê). The tool orientation is changed based on
the local surface curvatures using the technique presented in §5 to avoid gouging the
adjacent surfaces. The machining strip gets wider when the cutter moves to the
concave region with lower curvature j , because the eŒective cutting shapes ® t closer
to the local surface by instantaneously adjusting tool orientations. Due to the
inclinatio n and tilting of the cutter, the machining strip gets narrower once the
cutter moves into very curvy region with high curvature j (the curved valley area), as
shown in F ig. 16.
F igure 17 shows the machining strip of the same example surface with another
smaller initial tool inclinatio n angle, (k L , !L ) = (5Ê, 0Ê). The machining strip width w
gets even wider in most of the convex and concave region. However, the machining
strip gets narrow once again when the cutter enters the high curvature valley area, the
Figure 17. Wider machining strips with a smaller tool inclination angle (k L = 5Ê).
F igure 18. EŒects of tool inclination angle ( k L) on machining strip width (w).
F igure 19. EŒects of tilt angles (!L ) on machining strip width .

same as the cases shown in F igs 15 and 16. Comparing F igs 15, 16 and 17, one can ® nd
that the machining strip with a smaller tool inclination angle k L gets wider strip width
w over most of the surfaces except for the high concave curvature (j > 0) area where
w becomes smaller for all the cases. This is owing to the adjustment of tool orientation
by the high surface curvature to avoid local gouging. Examples in F igs 15±17 also
show the dangerous traditional practice of using a ® xed tool inclinatio n angle k L
without adaptively adjusting tool orientation by the local surface shapes. Gouging or
over-cutting does occur in the high curvature concave area if a ® xed tool angle is used
without adaptively adjusting the tool orientation.
The examples shown in F igs 15±17 are consistent with the discussion presented in
§4 and 5. The result indicates that, when possible, the eŒective cutting shape should
be ® tted onto the surface shape as much as possible by adaptively adjusting tool
orientation according to local surface curvatures.

F igure 18 shows the diŒerent machining strip width w based on diŒerent initial
tool inclination angles (k L ) to machine the example surface. As shown in F ig. 18, the
smaller tool inclinatio n angle k L results in a larger machining strip width w. This is
due to the larger eŒective cutting radius as discussed in §5. However, the machining
strip widths become the same when the cutter goes into a high curvature concave area
(j > 0), as shown in F ig. 18. This suggests that, combining the proposed adaptively
adjusting tool orientation techniques based on local shapes, the initial tool inclinatio n
angle (k L ) should be as small as possible to achieve a wider machining strip to reduce
the total length of cutter path.
F igure 20. In¯ uence of tolerance ( h) on machining strip width ( w).

F igure 19 shows the eŒects of initial tilt angle (!L ) on the machining strip width.
As shown in F ig. 19, a larger tilt angle !L causes a smaller machining strip width w.
Comparing F ig. 19 with F ig. 18, the in¯ uence of tilt angle !L on machining strip width
is much smaller than that of the inclination angle k L . Figures 18 and 19 suggest that
gouging avoidance should be conducted mainly by adjusting the inclinatio n angle k L ,
and the tilt angle !L is only adjusted when certain constrains of k L (for example
machine limits) have been reached.
Please notice that, in Fig. 19, the highest machining strip width w occurs at
j a = 0. 69 which is equivalent to the inverse of the cutting radius, (1=R eff , XL (10Ê, 0Ê) .
The result of F ig. 19 shows that the adaptive adjusting tool orientation by ® tting
cutting shape to the local surface curvature has the highest machining strip width (w).
This result is consistent with the algorithm of tool orientation determination
discussed in §5.2.
F igure 20 shows the in¯ uence of diŒerent tolerances (h) on the machining strip
width (w) of the same example surface. The machining strip width decreases as the
tolerance (h) becomes smaller. Please notice that when h is larger, there are cases that
side cutting occurs and the machining strip width w gets close to 2´ the cutter radius
(w = 2r = 0. 50). As shown in F ig. 20, side cutting occurs in some concave curvature
F igure 21. Cutter path generation for 5-axis machining.

region when h is de® ned as 0. 010 unit. When a large tolerance h is used (for example
tolerance h = 0. 05), side cutting happens and the machining strip keeps at the level of
2´ of cutter radius (2r = 0. 50), as shown in F ig. 20. This means, if a large tolerance h
is given, side cutting occurs and the machining strip width is always close to the cutter
diameter.
F igure 21 shows the cutter paths generated for machining the example part
surface. F or comparison, only the cutter paths of the ® rst two machining strips are
shown in F ig. 21. G ouging the surface is avoided by adaptively adjusting tool
orientation according to local surface shapes. Shorter machining time can be achieved
by getting wider machining strips with the given surface tolerance. This leads to the
conclusion that, instead of the conventional practice of ® xed tool orientation in
machining, a better way to generate 5-axis cutter paths is to adjust tool orientation
adaptively based on the local surface property. The techniques proposed in this paper
can be used to support the automation of 5-axis complex surface machining for better
machining quality and shorter machining time.
7. Conclusions
This paper presents a robust surface interrogation tool and the techniques to
evaluate machining strip width to support the automatic planning and programming
of 5-axis surface machining. The machining strip is analysed by ® nding the inter-
section between the oŒset surface and the eŒective cutting shape of the inclined
cutters. Surface curvature information is used to adaptively adjust tool orientation to
optimally ® t the cutting shape into the local surface for better machined surface
quality. A wider machining strip can be achieved using the proposed technique. The
proposed work exploits the current capabilities of 5-axis machine tools for better
machining quality. The proposed methodology can be used to automate 5-axis die/
mold complex surface machining.
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This article was downloaded by: [UNAM Ciudad Universitaria]

On: 23 December 2014, At: 04:40

Surface interrogation and

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/002075497196064

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Y.-S. LEE² * and H. JI²

This research is focused on the investigation of robust surface interrogation tools

development of computational geometry techniques and their application to

R eceived June 1995.

2. Free-form surface design and die machining

along a number of curves, usually iso-parametric curves or projection curves on the

3. Surface interrogation by diŒerential geometry

3.1. Parametric surface and surface property

two-dimensional parametric uv-space to a set of three-dimension al coordinates. In

- 1 3 - 3 1 V30 V31 V32 V33

3.2. Surface classi® cation based on surface property

3.3. Principal surface curvature map

4. Five-axis die surface machining

F igure 1. Coordinate systems and inclined tool in 5-axis machining.

4.1. EŒective cutting shape

cutter location in the local coordinate system is de® ned as (x , y, z, k , !)L .

As shown in F ig. 1, the cutting position O L is de® ned to be located as h = p2. To

Projecting cutter edge F l along cutting direction ( X® lL ) to get E l (h ).

F igure 3. Local surface curvature normal to cutting direction.

projected along the current cutting direction X® 1L on to the Y lL - Z lL plane as the

4.2. L ocal surface curvature normal to the cutting direction

the local coordinate system can be found by coordinate transformation as:

Xp = cos a XL - sin a Z L ; (13)

- (j max - j min )sin a cos a XL Z L + h. (16)

As shown in Fig. 3, the curvature on the Y L - Z L plane can be calculated as:

The radius of curvature at cutter contact point C* on the Y L - Z L plane is j1 . If the

4.3. Evaluation of machining strip width

Ca Pv = | z aL | = | r cosk L sin !L sin h - r cosk L sin !L + r cos !L cos h |; (19)

F igure 4. M achining strip width w.

F igure 5. M achining strip widths (w) on diŒerent surface areas.

F igure 6. EŒects of local concave shapes on machining strip widths (w).

4.4. Side cutting machining strip width

F igure 7. Side cutting in 5-axis machining.

As shown in Fig. 7, the longest and shortest radius of E (h ) can be found by

F igure 8. Machining strip width w of the side cutting.

w = | S 1 S 2 | = | Z S1, L - Z S1,L | if (!L = 0). (42)

5. Optimal tool orientation in 5-axis machining

F igure 9. D etermine of tool inclination angle k L based on local surface curvature.

Figure 10. Adjusting tilt angle !L to avoid local gouging.

5.2. Finding the tilt angle

F igure 11. An example free-form surface.

!L , min = MAX [!1L , !2L ]. (50)

set k L ¬ k L0 and !L ¬ !L0 ;

(iv) if the surface is convex or planar (j < 0), set !L ¬ !L0 ;

6. Computer implementation and examples

principal surface curvature distribution is evaluated . F igure 12 shows the distribution

F igure 15. M achining strips along a sculptured surface.

F igure 19. EŒects of tilt angles (!L ) on machining strip width .

orientation according to local surface curvatures.

F igure 20. In¯ uence of tolerance ( h) on machining strip width ( w).

F igure 21. Cutter path generation for 5-axis machining.

and 3 D N C surface machining. Computers in Industry, 26(1), 41±59.

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