Quart-parametric interpolations for intersecting paths

The intersecting path is an important tool path generation method. This paper proposes an approach for the quart-parametric interpolation of intersecting paths. The objective of our approach is that the intersecting paths for surface machining can be directly interpolated within the computer numerical control (CNC) system. This enables the CNC interpolator to process the intersecting paths without geometric approximation as in existing approaches and take into consideration any specific feedrate profiles and further machining dynamical issues along the path. The interpolation of the intersection of two general parametric surfaces is transferred into interpolation of its projection curves and the time trajectories of four parameters along the intersecting curves are obtained. Our strategy is to carry out the quart-parametric interpolation based on the projection interpolation. The feedrate control method is developed, and then the interpolation algorithms for two projection curves are proposed. An error reduction scheme is presented to alleviate point deviation from the drive parametric surface. Simulations of quart-parametric interpolation have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.