Calculation of tool position error distribution of barrel cutter based on latitude approach

The tool position error distribution plays an important role in the strip-width calculation and the description of the spatial relationship between the cutter surface and designed surface. In order to improve the efficiency and precision about the tool position error distribution calculation of barrel cutter, a latitude circle center location algorithm based on the latitude separation approach is presented in this paper. The shortest distances between cutter surface and designed surface are calculated according to the center of a series of latitude circles in the new algorithm, then the tool position error distribution curve can be obtained. There are three different means dealing with latitude circles, namely latitude circle arc envelope algorithm, latitude circle arc discretization algorithm, and latitude circle center location algorithm. Firstly, the fundamental principles of three algorithms are introduced respectively while the main factors on the calculation efficiency and precision are analyzed. Secondly, the different influences of latitude circle number on the calculation efficiency and precision are compared in three algorithms. Finally, a given example verifies the validity of the concepts and algorithms in this paper. The results show that the strip-width calculation errors of the three algorithms are less than 5%. The latitude circle discretization algorithm is the most time-consuming, and the calculation time of latitude circle envelope algorithm is reduced by 50% while the calculation time of latitude circle center location algorithm is reduced by 80%. The latitude circle center location algorithm and latitude circle discretization algorithm are similar in terms of the calculation precision, but the improvement of calculation precision is less than 5% compared to the latitude circle envelope algorithm.