Model development for the prediction of surface topography generated by ball-end mills taking into account the tool parallel axis offset. Experimental validation

This paper presents a model for the topography prediction of ball-end milled surfaces, considering the tool parallel axis offset. First, the equations of cutting edge trajectories and the envelope equation of the material swept by the tool are derived. Later, the trajectories are cut by planes perpendicular to the feed direction obtaining a set of transcendental equations that are solved by transforming them to polynomial equations through Chebyshev expansions. This procedure presents the advantage on previous models in literature of not requiring any starting point to achieve the solution. Finally, experimental results are presented and compared to the model predictions.