The determination of the chip thickness in 5-axis ball end milling is most fundamental to calculate the cutting force which affects the machining stability and surface quality. In the 5-axis ball end milling, adding to the parameters of the 3-axis milling we have two important parameters which are the tilt and the lead angles. They affect the engagement region and the chip thickness and modify the cutting forces. Based on the true tooth trajectory and the machining surface geometries, this paper presents a new analytical model of the cutter workpiece engagement (CWE) region and the instantaneous undeformed chip thickness in three and five axis ball end milling. To validate the model a mechanistic force model was used, the simulation was compared to the measured one and a good agreement between them was proved.

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