Tool Path Planning for Five-Axis U-Pass Milling of an Impeller

Abstract U-pass milling is a roughing method that combines the characteristics of flank milling with conventional trochoidal milling. The tool cuts in and out steadily, and the tool–workpiece wrap angle is maintained within a small range. This method can smooth the cutting force and reduce the peak cutting force while avoiding cutting heat accumulation, which can significantly improve the processing efficiency and reduce tool wear. In this study, a tool path model is established for U-pass milling, and the characteristic parameters of the path are defined. Through a comparative test of three-axis groove milling, it is demonstrated that the peak value and average value of the cutting force are reduced by 25% and 60%, respectively. An impeller runner is considered as the processing object, and the milling boundary parameters are pretreated. A tiling micro-arc mapping algorithm is proposed, which maps the three-dimensional boundary to the two-dimensional parameter domain plane with the arc length as the coordinate axis, and the dimensionally reduced tool contact point distribution form is obtained. The geometric domain tool position point and the interference-free tool axis vector are obtained by calculating the bidirectional proportional domain of the runner and the inverse mapping of any vector in the parameter domain. Finally, the calculation results are nested into the automatically programmed tool (APT) encoding form, and the feasibility of the five-axis U-pass milling tool path planning method is verified through a numerical example.