Abstract: A method is presented by using computational geometry techniques to determine optimal tool position and orientation for 5-axis machining with torus end-mill. The toroidal cutting surface offers a large range of radius of curvatures. Furthermore, the tool orientation varies depending on the curvature of surface. Thus, the proposed method is much better than the flat end-mill machining with a fixed orientation. The proposed method consists of three phases: (1) optimum tool position and orientation for 5-axis machining; (2) tool path planning; and (3) interference detection.

Key words: Cutter location path, Interference detection, Sculptured surfaces, Torus end-mill