Objectives of section 9

 Write programs using linear interpolation to cut simple angles

 Write simple programs using circular interpolation to mill arcs

Slide 3
 Linear Interpolation

Linear interpolation:

 Means cutting a straight line between two points

 Sometimes this is referred to as a feedrate move since modern CNC

controls automatically perform linear interpolation on any move made while
in feedrate mode

 Prior to modern CNC controls special codes were necessary to turn on the
built-in linear interpolation system

 Some CNC controls also will interpolate rapid moves - while others simply
move the axes drive motors at maximum speed in rapid traverse mode

Slide 4
 Linear Interpolation

 The axis the spindle moves with basic orthogonal movements from the
beginning to the end of the path

 The programmed rectilinear path is divided into a large number of short

length straight lines

 The more lines, the better approximation is made of the actual path

 The more lines, the more computational power required - No longer used for
non straight segments

Slide 5
 Linear Interpolation

Linear interpolation:

 Machines capable of linear interpolation have a continuous-path control

system - meaning that the drive motors on the various axes can operate at
varying rates of speed
 Virtually all modern CNC controls utilize continuous path controls

 When cutting an angle the MCU calculates the angle based on the
programmed coordinates
 Since the MCU knows the current spindle location, it can calculate the
difference in the X coordinate between the current position and the
programmed location

The change in the Y coordinate divided by the change in the X coordinate

yields the slope of the cutter centerline path

Slide 6
 Linear Interpolation

Interpolating in Word Address Format

 Milling an angle with word address is not complicated

 The interpolator is automatically turned on when feedrate mode is

commanded
 Milling becomes a matter of specifying the coordinates along with the G01
feedrate mode code
 In CNC shops G01 is called: the feedrate mode code or the linear
interpolation code
 With modern CNC controls the terms mean the same thing

 Any feedrate move is considered an interpolated angled line move

 A move along the X axis only would cut an angled line of 0 degrees

 A move along the Y axis would cut an angle of 90 degrees

Slide 7
 Notes
 Linear interpolation is not difficult

 Aside from calculating the cutter offsets necessary to position the spindle - it is the same as
straight line milling

 The real difference is that an X and a Y coordinate are specified for the ending point of the
angle since there is a change in position of both axes

 Other cutter situations will present themselves in CNC part programming such as arcs tangent
to an angle or arcs tangent to other arcs

 CAM programming systems automatically calculate cutter offsets with speed and accuracy
no programmer can match

 For this reason CAM systems have become the preferred programming system in many shops

 A good programmer or CNC operator must still know how to calculate cutter offsets in order to
edit programs in the machine control during the first piece setup
Slide 8
 Linear Interpolation

 Other cutter situations will present themselves in CNC part programming

such as arcs tangent to an angle or arcs tangent to other arcs

 CAM programming systems automatically calculate cutter offsets with

speed and accuracy no programmer can match

 For this reason CAM systems have become the preferred programming
system in many shops

 A good programmer or CNC operator must still know how to calculate

cutter offsets in order to edit programs in the machine control during the
first piece setup

Slide 9
 Circular Interpolation

 In cutting arcs, the MCU uses its ability to generate angles to approxi-
mate an arc

 Since the machine axes do not revolve around a centerpoint in a typical

three-axis arrangement, the cutting of a true arc is not possible

 Circular interpolation is the term used to describe generating a move con-

sisting of a series of straight-line chord segments by the MCU in two
axes to simulate circular motion

 These chord segments are very small and practically indistinguishable from
a true arc

Slide 10
 Circular Interpolation

 Limited to the main plane of the machined surface

 Unable participation of the rotary machining axis of the machine-tool

 Not used for interpolation in the space due to requirement of the combined
movement of three or more machining axes

 Ideal for moving the axes when the path of the cutting tool in a plane
contains circles, half circles or arcs. In this case only the coordinates of the
ends of the arc, the radius and center are required

Slide 11
 Circular Interpolation

Specifying Axis for Interpolation

 Circular interpolation by definition involves only two axes.

 On FANUC-style controls, a plane designation code is used to select which pair of
axis will be used to generate the arc motion.
 There are three G codes used to specify these planes:

 G17 – Selects the X/Y plane (X and Y axis)

 G18 – Selects the Y/Z plane (Y and Z axis)
 G19 – Selects the Z/X plane (Z and X axis)

 These G codes are modal. A G17, for example, is cancelled only by a G18 or G19

 The X/Y plane (using the X and Y axis) is the most common orientation for circular
interpolation, therefore, G17 will be used throughout the examples in this text

Slide 12
 Circular Interpolation

Specifying Arc Direction

Circular interpolation can be accomplished in one of two directions: clockwise, or
counterclockwise. There are two G codes used to specify direction.

 G02 – Circular interpolation clockwise (CLW)

 G03 – Circular interpolation counterclockwise (CCLW)

 G02/G03 codes are modal

 They will cancel an active G00 (rapid traverse) or G01 (linear interpolation) codes
 G02/G03 are feedrate mode codes, just as G01 is.
 The difference lies in the type of interpolation used.
 G01 generates straight-line interpolation motion. G02/G03 generates arc simulation
interpolation motion

Slide 13
 Circular Interpolation

Specifying Beginning and Ending Arc Coordinates

 The MCU requires the spindle be positioned at the start of the arc when the G02/G03
command is given
 The current spindle position is the beginning arc coordinates. The axis coordinates
given on the G02/G03 line are the spindle ending points of the arc motion

Specifying Arc Center points

 There are two methods used to specify arc centerpoints: arc vector method and
radius method (see Figure 9-8)
 The arc vector method involves specifying the coordinates of the arc centerpoint as
X/Y values
 In the radius method, the arc centerpoint is calculated internally by the MCU. The
programmer simply specifies the radius value required

Slide 14
 Circular Interpolation

Arc Vector Method

 Since X, Y, and Z addresses are used to specify the end point of an arc,
secondary addresses are required to specify the centerpoint of an arc. The
following addresses are used to designate arc center points

 I—X-axis coordinate of an arc. J—Y-axis coordinate of an arc. K—Z-axis coordinate

of an arc

 Since circular interpolation occurs only in two axes, only two of these three codes
will be required to generate an arc. When using the X/Y plane for milling arcs, as this
text does, the I and J addresses are used

 The different ways controllers required the arc centerpoints to be specified

complicate this matter: absolute coordinates, to circle center, or from circle
center. FANUC-style controls usually utilize the to circle center method

Slide 15
 Circular Interpolation

Absolute Coordinates

 Some controls require the arc centerpoints specified by I, J, and/or K be the

position of the arc center relative to the coordinate system origin

 In other words, the center of the arc is specified just as if it were a cutter
coordinate using absolute positioning

 IF the arc centerpoints are at X2.000, Y2.000. They would be specified as

12.0000 J2.0000 as in the following circular interpolation block:

N120 G17 G02 X3. Y2. 12. J2. F7

Slide 16
 Circular Interpolation

 Although the radius method is easier to use than the arc vector method, the
latter method is still common

 This is most likely because the radius method became available only with
the advent of modern CNC controllers

 Many of today's programming practices have ties to the tape-controlled

MCU of days gone by. This use of the arc vector method is one of these

Slide 17
 Circular Interpolation

This example is typical of FANUC, General Numeric, and other FANUC- style controls:

N001 G80 G90 G00 G98 (optional stop code)

N100 T01 M06 (rapid to home zero)
N101 G00 X-0.25 Y-0.25 (cancel tool offset)
N102 G44 Z-1. H01 (retract Z)
N103 G01 Y3 (feed #5 to #1)
N104 X2. (feed #4 to #5)
N105 G17 G02 X3. Y2. I2. J-1. F7.2 (circular move to #4)
N106 G01 Y-0.25 (feed #2 to #3)
N107 X-0.25 (feed #1 to #2)
N108 G00Z0 (tool offset pickup)
N109 G49 (rapid to #1)
N110 G91 G28 X0. Y0. Z0. (tool change block)
N110 M01 (safety block)

Slide 18
 Circular Interpolation

The following code uses the from circle center method to specify arc centerpoints:

N001 G80 G90 G00 G98 (optional stop code)

N100 T01 M06 (rapid to home zero)
N101 G00 X-0.25 Y-0.25 (cancel tool offset)
N102 G44 Z-1. H01 (retract Z)
N103 G01 Y3 (feed #5 to #1)
N104 X2. (feed #4 to #5)
N105 G17 G02 X3. Y2. I2. J-1. F7.2 (circular move to #4)
N106 G01 Y-0.25 (feed #2 to #3)
N107 X-0.25 (feed #1 to #2)
N108 G00Z0 (tool offset pickup)
N109 G49 (rapid to #1)
N110 G91 G28 X0. Y0. Z0. (tool change block)
N110 M01 (safety block)

Slide 19
 Circular Interpolation

Radius Method
The following code mills the part using the radius method of specifying arc center coordinate:

N001 G80 G90 G00 G98 (optional stop code)

N100 T01 M06 (rapid to home zero)
N101 G00 X-0.25 Y-0.25 (cancel tool offset)
N102 G44 Z-1. H01 (retract Z)
N103 G01 Y3 (feed #5 to #1)
N104 X2. (feed #4 to #5)
N105 G17 G02 X3. Y2. R1. F7.2 (circular move to #4)
N106 G01 Y-0.25 (feed #2 to #3)
N107 X-0.25 (feed #1 to #2)
N108 G00Z0 (tool offset pickup)
N109 G49 (rapid to #1)
N110 G91 G28 X0. Y0. Z0. (tool change block)
N110 M01 (safety block)

Slide 20
 Circular Interpolation

Additional Circular Interpolation Examples

 The programs just discussed deal with simple arcs which intersect a line
parallel to a machine axis

 In many cases, however, an arc will intersect an angle or another arc

 The cutter offsets for these situations can be found by using the formulas

Slide 21
 Summary 1/3

 Linear interpolation is the ability to cut angles. It is simply a feedrate move,

in a straight line, between two points

 Circular interpolation is the ability to cut arcs or arc segments. Arcs are
cut by means of a series of choral segments generated by the MCU to
approximate the arc curvature

 It is necessary to calculate the cutter offset coordinates when using linear

and circular interpolation

 G01 is the code to institute linear interpolation. It also is referred to as the

feedrate move code

 G02 and G03 are used to institute circular interpolation

Slide 22
 Summary 2/3
 G02 turns on clockwise interpolation. G03 turns on counterclockwise interpolation

 There are two methods used to specify the arc center-points to the MCU: the arc
vector method and the radius method

 When using the arc vector to specify center-points, some controls require the
center-points to be given in absolute coordinates, some in incremental
coordinates from the cutter center to the circle center, and other in incremental
coordinates from the circle center to the cutter center

 The format for circular interpolation for the arc vector method is:

G17 G02
G18 G03 X… Y… Z… I… J… K…
G19

For most uses (X/Y plane interpolation) the format is:

G17 G02/G03 X… Y… I… J…
Slide 23
 Summary 3/3

 The format for circular interpolation for the radius method is:

G17 G02
G18 G03 X… Y… Z… R…
G19

For most uses (X/Y plane interpolation) the format is:

G17 G02/G03 X… Y… R…

Slide 24
 Vocabulary Introduced in this section
 Arc center-points

 Arc vector method

 Circular interpolation

 From circle center

 Linear interpolation

 Radius method

 To circle center

Slide 25
End of Section
 Reference Note
Copyright University of Patras, School of Engineering, Dept. of
Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, Dimitris Mourtzis. Dimitris
Mourtzis. «Computer Numerical Control of Machine Tools. Linear and
Circular Interpolation». Version: 1.0. Patras 2015. Available at:
https://eclass.upatras.gr/courses/MECH1213/
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