To Define Tool Axis Control at a Location (Trajectory Milling)
The tool axis control at a location allows you to associate the tool axis definitions with a series of locations on the model. The system then applies these definitions to the closest locations on the cutter path, and interpolates the tool axis orientation at other points along the cutter path based on the proximity of all the existing axis definitions.
1. Click Tool Motions on the Trajectory tab,
a. Select Curve Cut or Drive Surface Cut from the Tool Motions list. Depending on your selection, the Curve Cut or Drive Surface Cut dialog box opens.
b. Select the Axis Control tab.
2. Select At a Location as the Control Type The Location collector is activated automatically if axis control at a location is not previously defined.
3. To define axis control at a new location, click New location in the Axis collector or right-click the graphics window and select Origin Reference from the shortcut menu. The Location collector is activated.
If axis control at a location is previously defined, the Location collector displays the selected point, edge, or curve.
4. Click in the Location collector and select the following type of locations based on the type of cut:
◦ Curve Cut— A datum point or a location on the reference edge or curve.
◦ Drive Surface Cut—A datum point or location on the From-To Curve curve.
After you select a location, an axis control dragger appears on the tool path. The dragger is as close as possible to the reference you have defined. This is where the tool axis definition is applied. For details, see topic The Axis Control Dragger.
5. Adjust values for lead angle and tilt angle of the tool axis using either the axis control dragger or enter the angle in the Lead Angle and Tilt Angle options in the Axis Control tab.
If you are using the axis control dragger, drag the lead angle dragger ring to adjust the lead angle. As you drag, the value of the lead angle value is updated accordingly in the Axis Control dialog box and the tool axis arrow also updates its location. Similarly, you can drag the tilt angle dragger to adjust the tilt angle.
6. Specify the tool axis orientation using a physical reference such as an axis. To do this, click in the Orientation collector in the Axis Control tab. Alternatively, right-click in the graphics window and select Orient Reference from the shortcut menu. Select an axis or another physical reference. The orientation axis appears on the cut in the graphics window. You can flip the direction and change the orientation if required.
7. Select Align with the Z Axis to fix the orientation to be along the Z axis of the NC step coordinate system.
8. At the bottom of the Curve Cut or Drive Surface Cut dialog box, click the arrow next to Preview and select Tool to display the tool axis orientation. In the preview, the shorter arrows represent a smooth distribution of the tool axis orientation along the cut and the larger arrows represent the tool axis orientations that you have defined for the tool path.