Trochoidal milling is a popular machining method for slotting operation, as it avoids a full tool-workpiece engagement and hence helps, often significantly, slow down the tool wear, which is particularly a concern in the machining of hard-to-cut materials like titanium alloy. However, as the traditional trochoidal milling method assumes a fixed tool orientation, it can only apply to 2D shaped slots, while for many industrial parts the slot to cut is typically a genuine 3D freeform slot such as grooves on a blisk. In this paper, we present a multi-layer five-axis trochoidal milling method for machining an arbitrary 3D deep slot that is defined by two freeform side boundary surfaces. Aiming at minimizing the total cutting time, instead of conservatively dividing the slot into equi-depth layers, we strive to minimize the number of layers with variable layer depths while at the same time satisfying the two most critical physical constraints on the tool – the tool deformation and the tool stress. Both computer simulation and physical cutting experiments of the proposed method have been carried out, and the experimental results confirm the feasibility and advantages of the proposed method.

摆线铣削是用于开槽操作的一种流行的加工方法，因为它避免了刀具与工件的完全啮合，因此通常有助于显着地减慢刀具的磨损，这在加工难切削的材料（如钛）时尤为重要合金。但是，由于传统的摆线铣削方法采用固定的刀具方向，因此只能应用于2D形状的槽，而对于许多工业零件而言，要切割的槽通常是真正的3D自由形状槽，例如叶轮上的槽。在本文中，我们提出了一种多层五轴摆线铣削方法，用于加工由两个自由形式的侧边界面定义的任意3D深槽。为了最大程度地减少总切割时间，而不是保守地​​将切槽分成等深度的层，我们力求最大程度地减少具有可变层深度的层数，同时满足对工具的两个最关键的物理约束-工具变形和工具应力。对该方法进行了计算机仿真和物理切割实验，实验结果证实了该方法的可行性和优越性。