About Variable Axis Control
You can control the orientation of the tool axis for certain milling steps using options in the Axis Control tab and the Axis Def option.
In 4- and 5-axis trajectory milling, the Axis Control tab is available when creating a curve cut, a drive surface cut, or a two contour cut. In cutline milling and conventional milling, the Axis Control tab is available for 4- and 5-axis milling sequences. The Axis Def option is available for 5-axis surface milling, and isolines steps that are based on the Menu Manager.
You can control axis orientation in any one of the following ways:
• Points on Surface—Select points at which to define the orientation of the tool axis; in the regions between selected points, Creo NC will gradually interpolate the axis orientation for the tool. Axis orientation is interpolated using a weighted average of the tool axis orientations specified at the nearest selected points. If values have been specified for the parameters LEAD_ANGLE and TILT_ANGLE, these values will not be taken into consideration when interpolating the default axis orientation, but will be added/subtracted to/from that value after it has been calculated. For Cutline machining, you can also define tool axis orientation along the cutlines.
• Pivot Point—Select or create a datum point to be used as pivot point for the tool. The tool axis will always pass through this point while machining the surface(s).
• Pivot Axis—Select or create a datum axis to be used as pivot axis for the tool. The tool axis will always pass through some point on the pivot axis while machining the surface(s).
• Pivot Curve—Select an open or closed loop of edges or curves that will be used to guide the tool axis. The tool axis will always pass through some point of the pivot curve while machining the surface(s). All entities that form the pivot curve must be tangent to each other. You can have the system automatically synchronize tool path with pivot curve or define your own synchronization.
• At a location—The tool axis definition is defined at a datum point on the model. You create or select a datum point, then define the tool axis orientation at this point. The system then applies this definition to the closest location on the cutter path. If the model geometry or the tool motion changes, the system recalculates the location on the tool motion closest to the specified datum point. The tool axis orientation at other points along the cutter path is interpolated based on the proximity of all the existing axis definitions. Make sure to create a sufficient number of tool axis definitions by Location, to enable the system correctly interpolate the tool axis orientation along the cutter path.
• Normal to surface—Select a surface for the tool axis to be normal to. For cutline milling, the tool axis is normal to the surface being machined by default.
Point on Surface and Pivot Curve axis definitions can be used in 4-Axis Milling. For Points on Surface, specified tool axes will be projected onto the 4-Axis Plane and then interpolated.