A new stepover distance for reliable CPO toolpaths in pocket milling

In pocket machining, during roughing, the focus should be on execution speed to minimize cutting time and, consequently, increase productivity. Researchers agree on increasing the stepover distance between passes using the parallel offset strategy to achieve a minimal tool path that reduces cutting time. However, when increasing the stepover distance close to the tool diameter value, material residue is left between passes, especially in the corners, after machining. Therefore, researchers have been focused on developing methods to address these areas left untouched by the cutting tool. In this paper, we propose a form of optimized stepover distance that ensures machining without material residue and provides a reduced total toolpath compared to other methods, while also ensuring optimized overlap between passes. The primary advantage of this method is to eliminate the manual insertion of the stepover distance by the machine user. It also eliminates the need for the operator's intuition and experience for the approximate selection of this pass, as the CPO toolpaths are generated automatically.