Geometrical deviations versus smoothness in 5-axis high-speed flank milling

The paper deals with the Generation of Optimized 5-aXis Flank milling trajectories. Within the context of 5-axis High-Speed Machining, oscillatory trajectories may penalize process efficiency. The control of the trajectory smoothness is as essential as the control of geometrical deviations. For this purpose the Geo5XF method based on the surface representation of the tool trajectory has been developed. In flank milling, this surface, also called the Machining Surface (MS), is the ruled surface locus of the tool axes defining the trajectory. Based on a first positioning, the method aims at globally minimizing geometrical deviations between the envelope surface of the tool movement and the designed surface by deforming the MS while preserving trajectory smoothness. The energy of deformation of the MS is used as an indicator of the smoothness. Hence, in most cases, results obtained using Geo5XF show that minimum energy tool paths lead to minimal machining time. As geometrical deviations are not minimized for minimum energy tool paths, a compromise must be reached to find the best solution.