International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

Five-axis milling machine tool kinematic chain design and analysis

*
E.L.J. Bohez
Department of Design and Manufacturing Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, 12120 Pathumthani, Thailand

Received 23 May 2000; received in revised form 12 September 2001; accepted 13 September 2001

Abstract

Five-axis CNC machining centers have become quite common today. The kinematics of most of the machines are based on a
rectangular Cartesian coordinate system. This paper classifies the possible conceptual designs and actual existing implementations
based on the theoretically possible combinations of the degrees of freedom. Some useful quantitative parameters, such as the
workspace utilization factor, machine tool space efficiency, orientation space index and orientation angle index are defined. The
advantages and disadvantages of each concept are analyzed. Criteria for selection and design of a machine configuration are given.
New concepts based on the Stewart platform have been introduced recently in industry and are also briefly discussed.  2002
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Five-axis; Machine tool; Kinematic chain; Workspace; CNC; Rotary axis

1. Introduction the flexibility of the tool orientation relative to the work-

piece and results in a number of different set ups. To
The main design specifications of a machine tool can increase the flexibility in possible tool workpiece orien-
be deduced from the following principles: tations, without need of re-setup, more degrees of free-
dom must be added. For a conventional three linear axes
앫 The kinematics should provide sufficient flexibility in machine this can be achieved by providing rotational
orientation and position of tool and part. slides. Fig. 1 gives an example of a five-axis milling
앫 Orientation and positioning with the highest poss- machine.
ible speed.
앫 Orientation and positioning with the highest poss-
ible accuracy.
앫 Fast change of tool and workpiece.
앫 Save for the environment.
앫 Highest possible material removal rate.

The number of axes of a machine tool normally refers

to the number of degrees of freedom or the number of
independent controllable motions on the machine slides.
The ISO axes nomenclature recommends the use of a
right-handed coordinate system, with the tool axis corre-
sponding to the Z-axis. A three-axis milling machine has
three linear slides X, Y and Z which can be positioned
everywhere within the travel limit of each slide. The tool
axis direction stays fixed during machining. This limits

* Tel.: +66-2-524-5687; fax: +66-2-524-5697.

E-mail address: [email protected] (E.L.J. Bohez). Fig. 1. Five-axis machine tool.

0890-6955/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 0 - 6 9 5 5 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 3 4 - 1
506 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

2. Kinematic chain diagram clearly stated by Sim [2] in those earlier days of numeri-
cal control and most issues are still valid. Boyd in Ref.
To analyze the machine it is very useful to make a [3] was also one of the early introductions. Beziers’ book
kinematic diagram of the machine. From this kinematic [4] is also still a very useful introduction. Held [5] gives
(chain) diagram two groups of axes can immediately be a very brief but enlightening definition of multi-axis
distinguished: the workpiece carrying axes and the tool machining in his book on pocket milling. A recent paper
carrying axes. Fig. 2 gives the kinematic diagram of the applicable to the problem of five-axis machine work-
five-axis machine in Fig. 1. As can be seen the work- space computation is the multiple sweeping using the
piece is carried by four axes and the tool only by one Denawit-Hartenberg representation method developed
axis. by Abdel-Malek and Othman [6].
The five-axis machine is similar to two cooperating Many types and design concepts of machine tools
robots, one robot carrying the workpiece and one robot which can be applied to five-axis machines are discussed
carrying the tool. in Ref. [7] but not specifically for the five-axis machine.
Five degrees of freedom are the minimum required to The number of setups and the optimal orientation of
obtain maximum flexibility in tool workpiece orien- the part on the machine table is discussed in Ref. [8]. A
tation, this means that the tool and workpiece can be review about the state of the art and new requirements
oriented relative to each other under any angle. The for tool path generation is given by B.K. Choi et al. [9].
minimum required number of axes can also be under- Graphic simulation of the interaction of the tool and
stood from a rigid body kinematics point of view. To workpiece is also a very active area of research and a
orient two rigid bodies in space relative to each other 6 good introduction can be found in Ref. [10].
degrees of freedom are needed for each body (tool and
workpiece) or 12 degrees. However any common trans-
lation and rotation which does not change the relative
orientation is permitted reducing the number of degrees 4. Classification of five-axis machines’ kinematic
by 6. The distance between the bodies is prescribed by structure
the toolpath and allows elimination of an additional
degree of freedom, resulting in a minimum requirement Starting from Rotary (R) and Translatory (T) axes four
of 5 degrees. main groups can be distinguished: (i) three T axes and
two R axes; (ii) two T axes and three R axes; (iii) one
T axis and four R axes and (iv) five R axes. Nearly all
3. Literature review existing five-axis machine tools are in group (i). Also a
number of welding robots, filament winding machines
One of the earliest (1970) and still very useful intro- and laser machining centers fall in this group. Only lim-
ductions to five-axis milling was given by Baughman [1] ited instances of five-axis machine tools in group (ii)
clearly stating the applications. The APT language was exist for the machining of ship propellers. Groups (iii)
then the only tool to program five-axis contouring appli- and (iv) are used in the design of robots usually with
cations. The problems in postprocessing were also more degrees of freedom added.
The five axes can be distributed between the work-
piece or tool in several combinations. A first classi-
fication can be made based on the number of workpiece
and tool carrying axes and the sequence of each axis in
the kinematic chain. Another classification can be based
on where the rotary axes are located, on the workpiece
side or tool side. The five degrees of freedom in a Car-
tesian coordinates based machine are: three translatory
movements X,Y,Z (in general represented as TTT) and
two rotational movements AB, AC or BC (in general rep-
resented as RR).Combinations of three rotary axes (RRR)
and two linear axes (TT) are rare. If an axis is bearing
the workpiece it is the habit of noting it with an
additional accent. The five-axis machine in Fig. 1 can
be characterized by X⬘Y⬘A⬘B⬘Z. The XYAB axes carry the
workpiece and the Z-axis carries the tool. Fig. 3 shows
a machine of the type XYZA⬘B⬘, the three linear axes
carry the tool and the two rotary axes carry the work-
Fig. 2. Kinematic chain diagram. piece.
 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 507

The value of this equation is always equal to 6! or

720 when w+t=5. Some of these 720 combinations will
be containing only two linear axis. If only five-axis
machines with three linear axes are considered, only
3×5!=360 combinations are still possible.
The set Gt of combinations is characterized by a fixed
value of t. This set is identical to the set G⬘w charac-
terized by a fixed value of w, w=5⫺t. Using above defi-
nitions following subgroups of five-axis machines exist:
(i) Group G0/G⬘5; (ii) Group G1/G⬘4; (iii) Group
G2/G⬘3; (iv) Group G3/G⬘2; (v) Group G4/G⬘1; (vi)
Group G5/G⬘0.

4.1.1. G5/G0⬘ machine

All axes carry the tool and the workpiece is fixed on
a fixed table. Fig. 4 shows a machine with all the five
axes carrying the tool. The kinematic chain is XBYAZ
(TRTRT). This machine was one of the earliest models
of five-axis machines to handle very heavy workpieces.
As there are many links in the tool carrying kinematic
chain, there can be a considerable error due to elastic
deformations and backlash in the slides.

Fig. 3. XYZA⬘B⬘ machinery. 4.1.2. G0/G5⬘ machine

All axes carry the workpiece and the tool is fixed in
space. This construction is best used for very small
4.1. Classification based on the sequence of workpiece
workpieces (see Section 6.3).
and tool carrying axes

Theoretically the number of possible configurations is

quite large if the order of the axes in the two kinematic
chains of the tool and workpiece carrying axes is counted
as a different configuration. Also the combinations with
only two linear axes and three rotary axes are included.
One tool carrying axis and four workpiece carrying
axes can be combined in a five-axis machine as follows:
for each possible tool carrying axis X,Y,Z,A,B,C the other
four workpiece carrying axes can be selected from the
five remaining axes. So the number of combinations of
four axes out of five with considering different permu-
tation as another configuration is 5×4!=120 for each
possible tool axis selection (1 out of 6 or 6 possibilities).
So theoretically there are 6×120=720 possible five-axis
machines with one tool carrying axis. The same analysis
can be done for all other combinations. With t the num-
ber of tool carrying axes and w the number of workpiece
carrying axes (w+t=5) the total number of combinations
is as follows.

Ncomb= 冉冊冉 冊
6
t
t!
6−t
w
w! tⱕ3, t+w=5 (1)

Ncomb= 冉冊 冉 冊
6
w
w!
6−w
t
t! t⬎3, t+w=5 (2)

Fig. 4. XBYAZ machine.

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4.1.3. G4/G1⬘ machine

Four axes carry the tool and one axis carries the work-
piece. There are basically two possibilities, the work-
piece carrying axis can be R⬘ or T⬘.

4.1.4. G1/G4⬘ machine

One axis carries the tool and the other four axes carry
the workpiece. There are basically two possibilities, the
single axis kinematic chain can be R or T. Fig. 1 is an
example of such a machine, with the single tool carrying
axis T.

4.1.5. G3/G2⬘ machine

Three axes carry the tool and two axes carry the work-
piece. There are basically three possibilities, the work-
piece carrying axes can be both linear (T⬘T⬘) both
rotational (R⬘R⬘) or mixed (T⬘R⬘). Fig. 5 gives an
example of a machine with the tool carried by two rotary
axes and one linear axis. This machine allows processing
of large workpieces but the construction of the toolside
is complicated. The most common configuration is the
workpiece carried by the two rotary axes such as the one
given in Figs. 3, 6 and 8.

4.1.6. G2/G3⬘ machine

Two axes carry the tool and three axes carry the work-
piece. There are basically three possibilities, the tool car-
rying axis can be both linear (TT) both rotational (RR) Fig. 6. B⬘C⬘ZYX machine.
or mixed (TR). Fig. 7 shows the mixed construction. Fig.
8 shows two linear axes carrying the tool.

4.2. Classification based on the location of rotary

axes

The machines can be classified depending on the place

where the rotation axes are implemented.

Fig. 7. Z⬘X⬘C⬘BY machine.

Fig. 5. X⬘Z⬘CAY machine.

 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 509

The number of possible designs is the sum of the fol-

lowing combinations:

(i) For the group G0/G5⬘ the tool is fixed in space all
the five axes will carry the workpiece. The number
of different designs is 10 (NT⬘=3 and NR⬘ =2), (Figs.
15 and 16).
(ii) For the group G1/G4⬘, NT+NR=1, so NT=1 and NR=0,
is the only possible choice for the tool kinematic
chain. Equation (3) gives NCOMB=6. The combi-
nations are: R⬘R⬘T⬘T⬘T; T⬘T⬘R⬘R⬘T; R⬘T⬘R⬘T⬘T;
T⬘R⬘T⬘R⬘T; R⬘T⬘T⬘R⬘T; T⬘R⬘R⬘T⬘T. Fig. 9 shows
these six designs.
(iii) For the group G2/G3⬘ the tool axes are TT so NT⬘=1,
NR⬘=2, NT=2, NR=0 and Equation (2) gives NCOMB=3.
The three design combinations are: R⬘R⬘T⬘TT;
R⬘T⬘R⬘TT and T⬘R⬘R⬘TT. The group G2/G3⬘ contains
three instances of the R⬘R⬘ machine. These instances
are represented in Fig. 10.
(vi) If the tool axes are TTT the workpiece carrying axes
can only be R⬘R⬘. So only one design combination
is possible.
Fig. 8. Z⬘A⬘B⬘YX machine.
From the above-mentioned findings it can also be con-
cluded that the total number of R⬘R⬘ five-axis machine
Only machines with two rotary axes and three linear configurations is 20.
axes will be considered further. The possible configur- Machines with two axes on the clamping table can be
ations are: seen in Figs. 1, 3, 6 and 8. The advantages are:

(a) rotation axes are implemented on tool spindle;

(b) rotation axes are implemented on machine table;
(c) combination of both.

The sequence of the axes in the tool or workpiece

carrying kinematic chain is not important if the axes are
of the same type R or T. In general, if there are N⬘T trans-
latory axes and N⬘R rotary axes in the workpiece carrying
kinematic chain and NT translatory axes and NR rotary
axes in the tool kinematic chain, then the numbers of
combinations is [11]:
(N⬘T⫹N⬘R)! (NT⫹NR)!
Ncomb⫽ ⬘ ⬘ · (3)
NT!NR! NT!NR
with N⬘T⫹NT⫽3, N⬘R⫹NR⫽2

The number of combinations of each group will be given

below case by case. The total number of combinations
over all groups is 60. From the design point of view this
is a more tractable number of alternatives to be con-
sidered.

4.2.1. R⬘R⬘ machine

The two rotary axes carry the workpiece. The tool axis
can be fixed or carried by one (T), two (TT) or three
(TTT) linear axes. Fig. 9. Members of group G1/G4⬘.
510 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

앫 Five-sided cutting of electrodes for EDM and other

workpiece.
앫 Machining of precision workpieces.
앫 Turbines and tire profiles with a certain workpiece
geometry rotated over a certain angle. The same NC
program can be repeated after the zero of the rotation
axis has been inclined over a certain angle.

4.2.2. RR-machine
The number of possible design combinations
(NCOMP=20) is the same as in the case of the R⬘R⬘
machine because of the symmetry. Five-axis machines
with the rotation axes implemented on the tool axis
spindle can be seen in Figs. 4 and 5.
Advantages:

앫 These machines can machine very large workpieces.

Fig. 10. R⬘R⬘ machines in group G2/G3⬘.
앫 The machine axis values of the NC program XYZ,
depend on the tool length only. A new clamping pos-
ition of the workpiece is corrected with a simple
앫 In case the spindle is horizontal, optimal chip removal translation. This happens with a zero translation in the
is obtained through the gravitational effect of the CNC control of the machine.
chips just dropping.
앫 The tool axis during machining is always parallel to Disadvantages:
the Z axis of the machine. So the drilling cycles can
be executed along the Z-axis of the machine. Circles 앫 The drive of the main spindle is very complex. Simple
under a certain orientation of the workpiece are design and construction is only obtained when the
always executed in the XY plane of the machine. The whole spindle with the motor itself is rotating.
above-mentioned functions can be executed in the 앫 There is a lower stiffness because the rotation axis of
simple three-axis numerical control mode. the spindle is limiting the force transmission. At high
앫 The compensation of the tool length happens all the revolutions per minute (higher than 5000 rpm) there
time in the NC control of the machine, as with three- is also a counter acting moment because of the gyro-
axis machines. scopic effect which could be a disadvantage in case
the tool spindle is turning very fast.
Disadvantages: 앫 Circular interpolation in a random plane and drilling
cycles under random orientation are often not
앫 Machines with a rotating table are only for work- implemented.
pieces with limited dimensions. 앫 A change in the tool length cannot be adjusted by a
앫 The useful workspace is usually much smaller than zero translation in the control unit, often a complete
the product of the travel in X,Y and Z axis. recalculation of the program (or postprocessing) is
앫 The transformation of the Cartesian CAD/CAM coor- required.
dinate (XYZIJK) of the tool position to the machine
axes positions (XYZAB or C) is dependent on the pos- Important applications of this type of machine tool are:
ition of the workpiece on the machine table. This
means that in case the position of the workpiece on 앫 All types of very large workpieces such as air plane
the table is changed this cannot be modified by a wings.
translation of the axes system in the NC program.
They must be recalculated. In case the control of the
NC machine cannot transform Cartesian coordinates 4.2.3. R⬘R machine
to machine coordinates, then a new CNC program One rotary axis is implemented in the workpiece kine-
must be generated with the postprocessor of the matic chain and the other rotary axes in the tool kinem-
CAD/CAM system every time the position of the atic chain (e.g. Fig. 7).
workpiece changes. The groups G4/G1⬘, G4⬘/G1, G3⬘/G2, G3/G2⬘ cover
this design. Nowadays there are many machines on the
Important applications for this type: market with one rotation axis on the tool spindle and
 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 511

one rotation axis on the table. They are, however, com- workspace of the tool is the space obtained by sweeping
bining most of the disadvantages of both previous types the tool reference point (e.g. tool tip) along the path of
of machines and are often used for the production of the tool carrying axes. The workspace of the workpiece
smaller workpieces. The application range of this carrying axes is defined in the same way (the center of
machine is about the same as with machines with two the machine table can be chosen as reference point).
rotation axes implemented on the table. These workspaces can be determined by computing the
In all possible designs of this machine the NR⬘=NR=1 swept volume [6].
and NT⬘+NT=3. The total number of possible designs is: Based on the above-definitions some quantitative
parameters can be defined which are useful for compari-
NCOMB[NT⫽0,N⬘T⫽3]⫹NCOMB[NT⫽1,N⬘T⫽2]⫹NCOMB[NT
son, selection and design of different types of machines.
⫽2,N⬘T⫽1]⫹NCOMB[NT⫽3, NT⬘⫽0]
5.1. Workspace utilization factor WR
or 4+6+6+4=20 possible designs.
A possible definition for this is the ratio of the
(i) For NT⬘=0 and NT=3 the four combinations Boolean intersection of the workpiece workspace and
are: R⬘RTTT; R⬘TRTT; R⬘TTRT; R⬘TTTR. tool workspace and the union of the tool workspace and
(ii) For NT⬘=1 and NT=2 the six combinations workpiece workspace.
are: T⬘R⬘RTT; T⬘R⬘TRT; T⬘R⬘TTR; R⬘T⬘RTT;
WSTOOL傽WSWORKPIECE
R⬘T⬘TRT; R⬘T⬘TTR. WR⫽ (4)
(iii) For NT⬘=2 and NT=1 the six combinations are (see WSTOOL傼WSWORKPIECE
Fig. 11): R⬘T⬘T⬘TR; T⬘R⬘T⬘TR; T⬘T⬘R⬘TR;
R⬘T⬘T⬘RT; T⬘R⬘T⬘RT; T⬘T⬘R⬘RT. A large value for WR means that the workspace of the
(iv) For NT⬘=3 and NT=0 the four combinations tool and the workspace of the workpiece are about equal
are: R⬘T⬘T⬘T⬘R; T⬘R⬘T⬘T⬘R; T⬘T⬘R⬘T⬘R; T⬘T⬘T⬘R⬘R. in size and overlap almost completely. A small value of
WR means that the overlap of tool workspace and work-
piece workspace is small and that a large part of the
workpiece workspace cannot be reached by the tool. The
5. Workspace of a five-axis machine analogy with two cooperating robots can be clearly seen.
It is only in the intersection of the two workspaces of
Before defining the workspace of the five-axis each robot that they can ‘shake hands’. For the five-axis
machine tool, it is appropriate to define the workspace machine tool this corresponds to the volume in which
of the tool and the workspace of the workpiece. The the tool and workpiece reference point can meet.
However, in the case where all the five axes carry the
workpiece and the tool is fixed in space the above defi-
nition would give a zero value for the workspace utiliz-
ation. In the case of cooperating robots it would mean
that there is only one point were they can shake hands.
In the case of a five-axis machine, the workpiece can
still be moved in front of the tool and remove metal.
The reason is that many points from the workpiece can
serve as reference point on the workpiece. All points
which can cut on the toolsurface can be used as tool
reference point. It is therefore necessary to modify the
above definition for the case of a five-axis machine. All
points of the largest possible workpiece which can be
brought into contact with all the tool reference points
should be considered as the intersection of the tool work-
space and workpiece workspace in the case of five-axis
machines. The set of workpiece reference points which
can be brought in contact with the set of tool reference
points is defined as the machine tool workspace.
WSMT⫽傼(WSTOOL傽WSWORK),∀Toolref,∀Workref
So the above formula should be modified as follows.
傼(WSTOOL傽WSWORKPIECE)∀Toolref,∀Workref
WR⫽ (5)
Fig. 11. R⬘R machines in the group G2/G3⬘. WSTOOL傼WSWORKPIECE
512 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

The union of all possible intersections of the tool If this index is close to unity it means that the full
workspace and workpiece workspace for all possible tool range of the rotary axes can be used in the whole
reference point and workpiece reference points should machine tool workspace. If this index is much smaller
be used for the numerator. than unity it means that about OSI percent of the work-
For the denominator the tool workspace and work- space can use the full range of the rotary axes.
piece workspace are taken for a fixed single reference The above definition is a theoretical definition. The
point. For the tool reference point the center of the real orientation workspace index will be further limited
spindle nose reference surface is taken. For the work- by the need to avoid collision between parts of the
piece workspace the center of the machine table surface machine, tool and workpiece. This will be reflected in a
is taken as the reference point. smaller spherical dome which can be machined.
To each possible meeting point corresponds an orien-
tation of the toolvector and the vector perpendicular to 5.5. Outline of algorithm to compute the machine tool
the machine table. In fact for each possible meeting point workspace
of the tool and workpiece reference point there can be
more then one possible orientation of the tool and The output of the CAM module is an ordered set of
machine table. points and vectors: x,y,z,i,j,k. The points are the x,y,z
coordinates of the Cutter Location point (or tool refer-
5.2. Machinable volume ence point) on the tool and the vector components of the
tool vector i,j,k. These vectors are given in the work-
Once the workpiece has been fixed relative to the piece coordinate systems fixed rigidly to the workpiece.
workpiece reference point, and a specific tool relative to The transformation from workpiece to machine coor-
the tool reference point, it is possible to determine the dinates is called the geometry transform [2] or inverse
machinable volume. The machinable volume is the total kinematics. In the case of the five-axis milling machine
volume which can be removed from the workpiece for it is necessary to transform this x,y,z,i,j,k data to the
a particular instance of the tool and workpiece, and set machine slide position coordinates (further called T1, T2,
up of tool and workpiece. The intersection of the T3, R1 and R2) which control the motions of the machine.
machine tool workspace (Section 5.1) and the workpiece In nearly all cases the required motions are obtained by
give the amount of material which can be removed or a combined movement of the workpiece and the tool on
the machinable volume, for a particular workpiece and the specific machine tool. The geometry transformation
tool setup. will transform from the workpiece coordinate system to
a preset machine coordinate system fixed to the
5.3. Machine tool space efficiency MTS machine frame.
The workpiece coordinates x,y,z,i,j,k can be expressed
The machine tool space efficiency is defined as the in function of the machine coordinates
ratio of the Machine Tool workspace (clipped) and the
smallest convex volume which envelopes the machine. T1⫽FT1[x,y,z,i,j,k]; T2⫽FT2[x,y,z,i,j,k]; T3 (8)
MTS (6) ⫽FT3[x,y,z,i,j,k]; R1⫽FR1[i,j,k]; R2⫽FR2[i,j,k]
傼(WSTOOL傽WSWORKPIECE)⵪Toolref,⵪Workref The inverse of this transformations gives:
⫽
Volume x⫽FX[T1,T2,T3,R1,R2]; y⫽FY[T1,T2,T3,R1,R2]; z
⫽FZ[T1,T2,T3,R1,R2]; i⫽Fi[R1,R2]; j⫽Fj [R1,R2]; k (9)

5.4. Orientation space index of a five axis machine ⫽Fk[R1,R2]

OSI The range of the machine axes is limited by the
maximum travel of T1, T2, T3, R1 and R2. The limits are
A way to asses the maximum range of orientation is the corner points of a five-dimensional hypercube or par-
to determine the largest part of a sphere which can be allelotope with Nr r-dimensional

冉冊
produced on the machine by using the two rotary axes.
The orientation index is defined as the ratio of the n
Nr⫽2n−r (10)
volume of the largest spherical dome which can be R
machined with the machine using the full range of the
rotary axes. Divided by the machine tool workspace.
hyper faces, faces, edges and points [12]. To find an
VOLDOME(R1,R2) approximation of the machine tool workspace a regular
OS1⫽ (7)
傼(WSTOOL傽WSWORKPIECE)⵪Toolref,⵪Workref five-dimensional pointgrid of equally spaced points can
 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 513

be transformed by putting the coordinates of each point of the machine. The problem can be somewhat be more
in Eq. (9). The number of points to be transformed is L5 complicated due to the many possible locations of the
with L the linear density per axis (e.g. L=10 requires sphere on the machine table, here also a good initial
100,000 transformations). If only the points on the two- guess starts the iteration process. A point x,y,z located
dimensional faces of the hypercube are transformed, then on the sphere surface will have a radius r2=(x⫺
only L2 N2 points need to be transformed (L=10 gives x0)2+(y⫺y0)2+(z⫺z0)2. With x0, y0, z0 the center of the
8000 points to be transformed). The volume of this point sphere. The equation to be checked is:
set is the machine tool workspace. If this machine tool
r2ⱕFX[T1,T2,T3,R1,R2]2⫹FY[T1,T2,T3,R1,R2]2
workspace is now put on the machine table, then the
part which interferes with the machine frame must be ⫹FZ[T1,T2,T3,R1,R2]2
subtracted (clipped).
This relation must hold for all corner points of the five-
dimensional parallelotope which defines the machine
5.6. Outline of algorithm to compute the orientation
range. Using equation (10) gives N1=80 corner points.
space index
5.7. Orientation angle index of a five-axis machine
The equation of a sphere surface is given in spherical
OAI
coordinates as: x=r sin θ cos ψ; y=r sin θ sin ψ; z=r cos
θ; the range of ψ is from 0 to 2π and θ from 0 to π can
be matched to the range of the machine rotary axes R1 If a large range of orientation is required it should be
and R2. At tool path to mill the largest possible part of possible to make a complete sphere. To make a complete
a sphere can now be determined. The first step in the sphere two RR axis are needed. One axis with a range
determination is the selection of the orientation of the of 360° and another perpendicular axis with a range of
tool axis relative to the sphere. At each point x,y,z of 180° are the minimum requirement. The Orientation
the sphere there are three possible orientations along the angle index is defined as the ratio of the product of the
unit vectors ir iθ and iψ. If the tool axis is oriented along max range of the two rotary axes divided by 360×180
ir the tool axis will be perpendicular to the sphere sur- multiplied by α12/90. With α12 the angle in degrees
face. If the tool axis is oriented along iθ or iψ, the tool between the two rotary axes (e.g. in Fig. 6, α12=45°).
axis will be parallel to the isoparametric lines on the ⌬R1·⌬R2 a12°
sphere θ = constant or ψ= constant. The tool path can OAI⫽ (11)
360°·180° 90°
be generated with the following equations:
x⫽r sin(y/2n) cos y; y⫽r sin(y/2n) sin y; z⫽r cos(y/n) If this index is 1 it is possible to mill a full sphere.
for r=constant, n=number of turns and θⱕψⱕ2nπ. Often there is only a subspace of the workspace available
The CL point will follow a ‘spiral’ motion with n the in which this full range of the two rotary axes orien-
number of full turns. tations can be used. To be able to asses the size of the
The orientations of the tool vector for each CL point part OAI index should be used in combination with OSI
should be selected from the three possible orientation-
s:Perpendicular to sphere:
6. Selection criteria of a five-axis machine
i⫽sin(y/2n) cos y, j⫽sin(y/2n) sin y, k⫽cos(y/2n)
Parallel to the isoparameric line θ = constant: It is not the objective to make a complete study on
how to select or design a five-axis machine for a certain
i⫽sin(y/2n) cos y, j⫽sin(y/2n) sin y, k⫽⫺sin(y2/n) application. Only the main criteria which can be used to
Parallel to isoparameric line ψ = constant, which is justify the selection of a five-axis machine are discussed.
always parallel to the xy plane:
6.1. Applications of five-axis machine tools
i⫽⫺sin y, j⫽cos y, k⫽0.
The applications can be classified in positioning and
Normally it will be clear which toolorientation vector contouring. Figs. 12 and 13 explain the difference
will give the largest r. The number of turns is not between five-axis positioning and five-axis contouring.
important as this toolpath will probably never be cut on
the machine so a value, e.g. 10 can be taken. The angle 6.1.1. Five-axis positioning
ψ can be related to maximum range of R1 and R2 through Fig. 12 shows a part with a lot of holes and flat planes
the geometry transform of the machine. The maximum under different angles, to make this part with a three-
radius of the sphere can be determined by starting with axis milling machine it is not possible to process the part
an initial guess r0 and check if this is within the range in one set up. If a five-axis machine is used the tool can
514 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

process. More details on countouring can be found in

Ref. [13]. Applications of five-axis contouring are: (i)
production of blades, such as compressor and turbine
blades; (ii) injectors of fuel pumps; (iii) profiles of tires;
(iv) medical prosthesis such as artificial heart valves; (v)
molds made of complex surfaces.

6.2. Axes configuration selection

The size and weight of the part is very important as

a first criterion to design or select a configuration. Very
heavy workpieces require short workpiece kinematic
chains. Also there is a preference for horizontal machine
tables which makes it more convenient to fix and handle
Fig. 12. Five-axis positioning. the workpiece. Putting a heavy workpiece on a single
rotary axis kinematic chain will increase the orientation
flexibility very much. It can be observed from Fig. 4
that providing a single horizontal rotary axis to carry the
workpiece will make the machine more flexible.
In most cases the tool carrying kinematic chains will
be kept as short as possible because the toolspindle drive
must also be carried.

6.3. Example 1 — five-axes machining of jewelry

A typical workpiece could be a flower shaped part as

in Fig. 14. This application is clearly contouring. The
part will be relatively small compared to the tool
assembly. Also small diameter tools will require a high
speed spindle. A horizontal rotary table would be a very
good option as the operator will have a good view of
the part (with range 360°). All axes as workpiece carry-
ing axes would be a good choice because the toolspindle
Fig. 13. Five-axis contouring. could be fixed and made very rigid. There are 20 ways
in which the axes can be combined in the workpiece
kinematic chain (Section 4.2.1). Here only two kinematic
be oriented relative to the workpiece in any direction. chains will be considered. Case one will be a T⬘T⬘T⬘R⬘R⬘
Once the correct position is reached, the holes or the flat kinematic chain shown in Fig. 15. Case two will be a
planes can be machined while keeping most of the axis R⬘R⬘T⬘T⬘T⬘ kinematic chain shown in Fig. 16.
positions fixed. The flat planes can also include 2D pock- For model I a machine with a range of X=300 mm,
ets with islands. If only holes need to be drilled it is in
theory sufficient to have a one axis simultaneous CNC
control, with 2D pockets a 2 axis simultaneous CNC
control is sufficient. However, simultaneous control of
three axes is now common. This increases the speed in
the rapid traverse mode when the tool and workpiece
are positioned relative to each other before any cutting
takes place.

6.1.2. Five-axis contouring

Fig. 13 shows an example of five-axis contouring, to
machine the complex shape of the surface we need to
control the orientation of the tool relative to the part dur-
ing cutting. The tool workpiece orientation changes in
each step. The CNC controller needs to control all the
five-axes simultaneously during the material removal Fig. 14. Jewel application
 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 515

Fig. 15. T⬘T⬘T⬘R⬘R⬘ five-axis machine.

Fig. 16. R⬘R⬘T⬘T⬘T⬘ five-axis machine.

Y=250 mm, Z=200 mm, C=n 360° and A=360°, and a each model and excentricity and summarized in Table
machine tool table of 100 mm diameter will be con- 1. It can be seen that with the rotary axes at the end of
sidered. For this kinematic chain the tool workspace is the kinematic chain (model I), a much smaller machine
a single point. The set of tool reference points which can tool workspace is obtained. There are two main reasons
be selected is also small. With the above machine travel for this. The swept volume of the tool and workpiece
ranges the workpiece workspace will be the space swept WSTOOL傼WSWORK is much smaller for model I. The
by the center of the machine table. If the centerline of second reason is due to the fact that a large part of the
the two rotary axes intersect in the reference point, a machine tool workspace cannot be used in the case of
prismatic workpiece workspace will be obtained with as model I, because of interference with the linear axes.
size XYZ or 300×250×200 mm3. If the centerlines of the The workspace utilization factor however is larger for
two rotary axes do not intersect in the workpiece refer- the model I with no excentricity because the union of the
ence point then the workpiece workspace will be larger. tool workspace and workpiece workspace is relatively
It will be a prismatic shape with rounded edges. The smaller compared with model I with excentricity
radius of this rounded edge is the excentricity of the e=50 mm. The orientation space index is the same for
workpiece reference point relative to each centerline. both cases if the table diameter is kept the same. Model
Model II in Fig. 15 has the rotary axes at the begin- II can handle much larger workpieces for the same range
ning of the kinematic chain (R⬘R⬘T⬘T⬘T⬘). Here also two of linear axes as in model I. The rotary axes are here in
different values of the rotary axes excentricity will be the beginning of the kinematic chain, resulting in a much
considered. The same range of the axes as in model I larger machine tool workspace then for model I. Also
is considered. there is much less interference of the machine tool work-
The parameters defined in Section 5 are computed for space with the slides. The other 18 possible kinematic
516 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

Table 1
Workspace comparison of two five-axis machines

T⬘T⬘T⬘R⬘R⬘ Model I R⬘R⬘T⬘T⬘T⬘ Model II

Excentricity e=0 mm e=50 mm e=0 mm e=150 mm

WSMT 25.13 dm3 25.13 dm3 48.0 dm3 32.4 dm3
WSMT clipped 14.57 dm3 14.57 dm3 48.0 dm3 32.4 dm3
WSTOOL傼 WSWORK 15 dm3 30.85 dm3 107.7 dm3 39.8 dm3
WR 0.97 0.47 0.44 0.814
φLargest sphere φ100 mm φ100 mm φ300 mm φ250 mm
OSI 0.036 0.036 0.29 0.25
OAI 2 2 2 2
Space 32 dm3 45 dm3 100.53 dm3 56.55 dm3
MTS 0.47 0.57 0.48 0.57

chain selections will give index values somewhat in compared to ⫺45 to +20, makes model I more suited
between the above cases. for complex sculptured surfaces, also because the much
higher angular speed range of the vertical angular table.
6.4. Example 2 — rotary table selection The option with the highest spindle speed should be
selected and it will permit the use of smaller cutter diam-
Two machines with the same kinematic diagram eters resulting in less undercut and smaller cutting
(T⬘T⬘R⬘R⬘T) and the same range of travel in the linear forces. The high spindle speed will make the cutting of
axes will be compared (Fig. 17). copper electrodes for die sinking EDM machines easier.
There are two options for the rotary axes: two-axis The vertical table is also better for the chip removal. The
table with vertical table (model I), two-axis table with large range of angular orientation, however, reduces the
horizontal table (model II). Tables 2 and 3 give the com- maximum size of the workpiece to about 300 mm and
parison of the important features. 100 kg. Model II with the same linear axes range as
It can be observed that reducing the range of the rotary model I, but much smaller range in the rotation, can eas-
axes increases the machine tool workspace. So model I ily handle a workpiece of double size and weight. Model
will be more suited for smaller workpieces with oper- II will be good for positioning applications. Model I can-
ations which require a large orientation range, typically not be provided with automatic workpiece exchange,
contouring applications. Model II will be suited for making it less suitable for mass production. Model II has
larger workpieces with less variation in tool orientation automatic workpiece exchange and is suitable for mass
or will require two setups. This extra setup requirement
production of position applications.
could be of less importance then the larger size. The
Model I could, however, be selected for positioning
horizontal table can use pallets which transform the
applications for parts such as hydraulic valve housings
internal setup to external setup.
which are small and would require a large angular range.
The larger angle range in the B-axes ⫺105 to +105,

Fig. 17. Model I and model II T⬘T⬘R⬘R⬘T machines.

 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 517

Table 2
Specifications of five-axis machine tools in Fig. 17

Machine type Model I Model II

Range of B-axis ⫺105 to +105° ⫺45 to +20°

Range of A-axis n×360° n×360°
Angular speed °/s 8500/14,000 3000/3000
Type of table Vertical Horizontal
Diameter table 320 mm 520 mm
Max. table load 100 kg 200 kg
X Y Z range 600×450×500 mm 600×450×500 mm
Toolnose holding ISO 40 ISO 40
Weight 4500 kg 5500 kg
Pallet exchange No Yes

Table 3
Workspace comparison of five-axis machine tools in Fig. 17

Model I Model II

WSMT 212.0 dm3 145.6 dm3

WSMT clipped 84.0 dm3 145.6 dm3
WSTOOL傼WSWORK 334.5 dm3 180.5 dm3
WR 0.25 0.81
φLargest sphere φ300 mm φ930 mm
OSI 0.17 0.05
OAI 1.17 0.36
Space 9000 dm3 9000 dm3
MTS 0.037 0.07

6.5. Selection of machine options cult job to automate) of the part while the machine is
working on another part on the machine.
6.5.1. Automatic tool change (ATC) The configuration of Fig. 1 provides the machine tool
An automatic tool change on a CNC machine is a very designer with an easy design for the tool exchanger, the
useful option for mass production. The most important provision of an automatic workpiece exchange is, how-
feature to look for when selecting this option is the tool ever, much more difficult and normally not provided,
exchange time. Today machines with a tool exchange because of the vertical table. The configuration of Fig.
time below 1 s are available. An ATC should, however, 3 allows both Automatic Tool Exchange (ATC) and
not be a high priority option for a mold and die making Automatic Workpiece Exchange (AWC).
shop. It can however be very useful if unattended mach-
ining is required. An ATC on a machine tool increases 6.5.3. Horizontal or vertical spindle machining center
the downtime of the machine. Frequent breakdown is The most popular machining center for series pro-
due to two reasons [14]: duction is the horizontal machining center (tool spindle
horizontal — Fig. 18). The main reasons for this are
앫 Breakdown of the hydraulic or pneumatic system. [15]:
앫 When power fails and the tool exchange arm is half-
way the toolexchange operation, it can happen that 앫 Chips drop out of the way during machining, provid-
the arm has to be withdrawn by manually actuating ing an uncluttered view of the cut and preventing
the control valves in the correct sequence. recutting of chips.
앫 The table indexing capability enables multiple sides
of a workpiece to be machined in one setup.
6.5.2. Automatic pallet change (APC) 앫 Easy to provide APC.
This option is again very useful for small to large ser-
ies production. A requirement for APC is that the The disadvantages of the horizontal machining center
machine table which holds the workpiece is horizontal. are:
Many machines equipped with APC have two or more
tables in carrousel which allows the set up (still a diffi- 앫 Heavy tools deflect.
518 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

앫 Trust of the cutting tool is directly absorbed into the

machine table.
앫 Ideal for large, flat plate work and single surface
3D contouring.
앫 Heavy tools can be used without concern about
deflection.
앫 Generally less costly.

The main disadvantage is the extensive chip buildup

which obstructs the view and recuts chips

7. New machine concepts based on the Stewart

platform

Conventional machine tool structures are based on

Carthesian coordinates. Many surface contouring appli-
cations can be machined in optimal conditions only with
five-axis machines. This five-axis machine structure
requires two additional rotary axes. To make accurate
machines, with the required stiffness, able to carry large
workpieces, very heavy and large machines are required.
Fig. 18. Horizontal spindle machine. As can be seen from the kinematic chain diagram of the
classical five-axis machine design the first axis in the
chain carries all the subsequent axes. So the dynamic
앫 Trust of cutting tool must be absorbed by fixtures. responce will be limited by the combined inertia. A
앫 Generally more expensive than the vertical spindle mechanism which can move the workpiece without hav-
machine. ing to carry the other axes would be the ideal. A new
design concept is the use of a ‘HEXAPOD’. Stewart [16]
The most popular machine for a job shop and moldmaker described the hexapod principle in 1965. It was first con-
is the vertical spindle machine (Fig. 19). The main structed by Gough and Whitehall [20] in 1954 and
reasons are: served as tire tester. Many possible uses were proposed
but it was only applied to flight simulator platforms. The
reason was the complexity of the control of the six actu-
ators. Recently with the amazing increase of speed and
reduction in cost of computing, the Stewart platform is
used by two American Companies in the design of new
machine tools. The first machine is the VARIAX
machine from the company Giddings and Lewis, USA.
The second machine is the HEXAPOD from the Inger-
soll company, USA. The systematic design of Hexapods
and other similar systems is discussed in Ref. [17].
The problem of defining and determining the work-
space of virtual axis machine tools is discussed in Ref.
[18]. It can be observed from the design of the machine
that once the position of the tool carrying plane is
determined uniquely by the CL date (point + vector), it
is still possible to rotate the tool carrying platform
around the tool axis. This results in a large number of
possible length combinations of the telescopic actuators
for the same CL data.

7.1. Variax machine

This machine approaches the Stewart platform very

Fig. 19. Vertical spindle machine. closely. One upper and lower platform is connected by
 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520 519

six crossed telescopic linear axes (Fig. 20). These tele-

scopic axes can expand and retract by means of revolv-
ing ballscrew spindles and a servomotor per axis. The
bottom platform caries the workpiece pallet and the top
platform the toolpallet. The top platform carries the
machining spindle and drive. The lightweight triangular
framework provides high stiffness. The telescopic actu-
ators are supported at the two endpoints. This results in
only compressive or tension load resulting in high stiff-
ness. Further variations on the same structure are:

앫 The machine is made with a vertical platform for car-

rying the workpiece, getting the benefits of a horizon-
tal spindle machine.
앫 The duplicating tool platform on both sides of the
workpiece platform would increase the productivity
by reducing the number of setups and two tools cut-
Fig. 21. Hexapod machine.
ting simultaneously.

Advantages:
7.2. Hexapod machine
앫 Stiff construction.
The HEXAPOD (Fig. 21) machine does not resemble 앫 The telescopic legs are only loaded in compression
the Stewart platform as closely as the VARIAX and tension.
machine. To avoid the large space taken by the six tele- 앫 Simple assembly.
scopic axes in the VARIAX machine, the six axes are 앫 All leg drives are the same (repetitive construction).
connected to the (fixed) top platform instead of the bot- 앫 Small moving masses.
tom. To be able to realize this construction it was neces- 앫 No special fabrication or assembly features are
sary to have a machine mainframe to support this upper required for the machine elements.
fixed platform. This frame is also made from a triangular
beam mesh. The movable platform is now much smaller Disadvantages:
and carries the spindle and its drive. This machine has
a much larger useful workspace than the VARIAX 앫 A six axis CNC control is required.
machine. The telescopic axes are larger. The tool carry- 앫 The build in coordinate transform is a heavy load for
ing platform is much smaller and the mass to be moved the CNC control.
is smaller. 앫 The tilting angle is limited to ±15 degrees. So if full
five-axis capability is required, a tilting and rotary
table will be necessary. So that the machine is not
really a six-axis machine.
앫 Large thermal expansions.
앫 Unfavorable workspace to machine volume ratio.

8. Conclusion

Theoretically there are large number of ways in which

a five-axis machine can be built. Nearly all classical Car-
tesian five-axis machines belong to the group with three
linear and two rotational axes or three rotational axes
and two linear axes. This group can be subdivided in six
subgroups each with 720 instances. If only the instances
with three linear axes are considered there are still 360
instances in each group. The instances are differentiated
based on the order of the axes in both tool and workpiece
Fig. 20. Variax machine. carrying kinematic chain.
520 E.L.J. Bohez / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 42 (2002) 505–520

If only the location of the rotary axes in the tool and classical five-axis machine. The higher rigidity of these
workpiece kinematic chain is considered for grouping machines makes them very appropriate for the design of
five-axis machines with three linear axes and two high speed spindles [19] needed for high speed milling.
rotational axes, three groups can be distinguished. In the
first group the two rotary axes are implemented in the
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