Swept volume with self-intersection for five-axis ball-end milling

Abstract

The generation of a volume swept by a tool along its path, called the swept volume, is indispensable for the volumetric simulation of five-axis machining. In some cases of five-axis machining, the swept volume may be self-intersecting, which requires special processing to handle the geometric and topological problems due to complex tool motion. In this work, an algorithm is proposed for generating the swept volume, including the self-intersection case for five-axis ball-end milling, based on triangle strip representation. The proposed algorithm has various applications such as interference detection in assembly design, and visualization of manipulator motions in robotics.