Tool path generation for five-axis machining of blisks with barrel cutters

A barrel cutter has a cutting segment with a large radius on its profile, and this arc segment allows the cutter to tilt away from the part surface, avoiding the collisions of the tool with the part. Therefore, barrel cutters are suitable for five-axis blisk machining. However, the barrel cutters are more challenging for CAM software to generate paths. A method of generating collision-free and large-machining width flank milling paths with smooth axes movements for blisk machining with barrel cutters is proposed. Local gouge between the tool flute surface and the blade to be machined is considered, and the collisions of the blisk with the non-cutting parts of the tool, i.e. tool shank and holder, are also detected. The machined part geometry is the complement of the cutter’s swept envelope from the stock. Accordingly, the swept profile of the cutter at each cutter contact point is employed to evaluate the machining width naturally. Thereafter, a multi-criteria tool path generation model is established, and it is converted into a single-objective optimization with the weighted sum method. An algorithm based on the Differential Evolution algorithm is developed to solve this model. The numerical example illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.