A geometric method for optimal multi-cutter selection in 5-axis finish cut of sculptured surfaces

This paper presents an optimization method for multiple cutter selection in 5-axis sculptured surface finish cut. Compared to machining using a single cutter, the application of multiple cutters can shorten the cutting time. In our early work, an algorithm has been developed to select the largest feasible cutter to finish the whole of a given sculptured surface by considering gouging and collision problems. In this paper, this method is extended to select an optimal set of cutters which are utilized to finish different regions of the surface. For a given surface, the feasible cutters, that form all the possible cutter sets, are identified by calculating all cutterspsila accessibility information. The candidate cutter sets are then extracted from all possible cutter sets by keeping every cutterpsilas actual cutting region sufficiently large. Based on a proposed method for estimating the cutting time without generating the tool path, the optimal cutter set with the maximum cutting efficiency is selected. Examples are given to show the validity and robustness of the developed methods.