  Nowadays high speed machining (HSM) machine tool combines productivity and
part quality. So mould and die maker invested in HSM. Die and mould features
are more and more complex shaped. Thus, it is difficult to choose the best
machining strategy according to part shape. Geometrical analysis of machining
features is not sufficient to make an optimal choice. Some research show that
security, technical, functional and economical constrains must be taken into
account to elaborate a machining strategy. During complex shape machining,
production system limits induce feed rate decreases, thus loss of productivity,
in some part areas. In this paper we propose to analyse these areas by
estimating tool path quality. First we perform experiments on HSM machine tool
to determine trajectory impact on machine tool behaviour. Then, we extract
critical criteria and establish models of performance loss. Our work is focused
on machine tool kinematical performance and numerical controller unit
calculation capacity. We implement these models on Esprit CAM Software. During
machining trajectory creation, critical part areas can be visualised and
analysed. Parameters, such as, segment or arc lengths, nature of
discontinuities encountered are used to analyse critical part areas. According
to this visualisation, process development engineer should validate or modify
the trajectory.
