Arc–surface intersection method to calculate cutter–workpiece engagements for generic cutter in five-axis milling

•Arc–surface intersection method to obtain cutter–workpiece engagements is proposed.•Feasible contact arc is extracted to calculate the engagement boundaries.•Analytical solution can be obtained for flat workpiece by using this method.•This method is compatible well with the force model without loss of precision.

Calculating cutter–workpiece engagements (CWEs) is essential to the physical simulation of milling process that starts with the prediction of cutting forces. As for five-axis milling of free form surfaces, the calculation of CWEs remains a challenge due to the complicated and varying engagement geometries that occur between the cutter and the in-process workpiece. In this paper, a new arc–surface intersection method (ASIM) is proposed to obtain CWEs for generic cutter in five-axis milling. The cutter rotary surface is first represented by the family of section circles which are generated by slicing the cutter with planes perpendicular to the tool axis. Based on the envelope condition, two grazing points on each section circle are analytically derived, which divide the circle into two arcs. The feasible contact arc (FCA) is then extracted to intersect with workpiece surfaces. Using arc/surface intersection and distance fields based approach, the boundary of the closed CWEs is accurately and efficiently calculated. Compared with the solid modeler based method and the discrete method, the ASIM has higher computational efficiency and accuracy. Moreover, an analytical solution for calculating CWEs can be obtained with this method in five-axis milling of the workpiece merely comprising of flat and quadric surfaces. Finally, two case tests are implemented to confirm the validity of the ASIM and comparisons have been made with a Vericut based system which utilizes the Z-buffer method. The results indicate that the ASIM is computationally efficient, accurate and robust.