Virtual Simulation and Optimization for 5-Axis Milling Process

5-axis milling operations are used in industries such as aerospace, automotive and mold for free-form surface machining. In these process, surface quality and material removal rate are of very important. Conservative cutting parameters have been mostly used since there was a lack of physical models and optimization tools. Part and tool deflections under high cutting forces may result in unacceptable part quality. The overall goal of this research is the integration of geometric and mechanistic models for cutting process simulation and feedrate optimization. The extracted cutter workpiece engagements are used as input to a force prediction model. The model predictions for cutting forces and feedrate optimization are compared and verified by experimental results.