In high-speed milling (HSM) of free-form surfaces, the tool path is mainly characterized by a set of short discontinuous segments in tangency. These discontinuities bring an intense kinematic parameter fluctuation of the computer numerical control (CNC) machine axes. The smoothing of the programmed tool path and the optimal choice of the manufacturing process parameters ensure a high productivity with the required quality of the machined surfaces. Precise estimation of the machining time allows an accurate evaluation of the machined product cost. Thereby, this is achieved by studying the effect of the tool path smoothing and the CNC controller parameters on the axis kinematics and the following errors. This paper focuses on the geometrical modeling of the local smoothing block adopted by Sinumerik CNC. Further, a kinematic model is proposed to simulate the axis motion in linear interpolation mode with local smoothing. The identification of the interpolator reduction effect on the programmed tolerance leads to the identification of the smoothing model adopted by the CNC unit. Then, the axis kinematic behavior is modeled while taking into account the drive parameter axes defined by the manufacturer of the CNC unit. The experimental results showed a smooth variation of the axis feed rate along the smoothing blocks and a good correlation with the proposed models.

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