Modeling and on-line simulation of surface topography considering tool wear in multi-axis milling process

The understanding and prediction of the generated surface topography are very important inmilling process. This paper presents a surface topography model and an on-line simulation method of surface topography considering tool wear in a multi-axis milling process. First, the cutting edge equation is established by dividing the cutting edge into a series of cutting edge elements considering tool wear influence and tilt angle of tool axis on each discrete cutting edge element, and an algorithm is proposed to determine the range of divided position angle. Then, the sculptured surface workpiece is divided into a series of elements along the feed direction with the same or less than discrete precision of cutting edge. The intersection points between the discrete cutting edge elements and the planes of both sides of each divided element on workpiece can be obtained based on the established cutting edge equation in the cutting process. The left cutting trajectory points on workpiece are got by reserving the points with the minimum coordinate value in the Z-axis direction under the same coordinate value in the X-axis and Y-axis direction among the intersection points and points on workpiece. Thus, surface topography model can be constructed based on the established cutting edge equation, the determined range of position angle, discrete cutting edge elements, and divided element on workpiece surface. Finally, an on-line simulation algorithm is proposed to simulate the generation process of surface topography in multi-axis milling operation. Experimental work and validation of the established model are performed on a five-axis milling center by using stainless steel 0Cr17Ni12Mo2 and cemented carbides milling cutter. The results about the topography generation of the constructed B-spline surface show that the predictions of the established surface topography model correlate well with the experimental results.