5-axis flank milling: A state-of-the-art review

Flank milling is of importance to machining aircraft structural parts, turbines, blades and several other mechanical parts. It decreases manufacturing time, enhances quality and reduces cost. Since flank milling developable ruled surfaces do not contain geometrical errors, research on flank milling focuses on the generation of optimal tool trajectory for non-developable ruled surfaces, even generic free-form surfaces. This includes: envelope surfaces, geometrical errors (overcut, undercut), energy optimization in tool movement, surface deviations, tool geometry adaptation, tool wear and temperature, and surface roughness. In this article we present a survey on flank milling as well as suggesting guidelines for future considerations in solving flank milling tool trajectory optimization. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.