To predict the varying milling force caused by the variation of tool poses and tool types in five-axis milling process,a five-axis milling force calculation method was proposed based on a general end mills model.Based on the structural features of general end mills,a geometric model of general end mills was established.The instantaneous chip thickness model was obtained by considering the effects of both the actual motion paths of teeth and the varying tool poses.The general end mill was divided into several differential elements,and the milling force of each differential edge was given with the linear cutting force model.The differential cutting forces were transformed from the tool coordinate system to the workpiece coordinate system,and integrated along the milling contact area in tool axis direction to obtain the five-axis milling force model for general end mills.Finally,a milling test was carried out on a hybrid five-axis machining test platform.The test results show that the proposed milling force calculation method is correct and effective,and can be used as theoretical basis for further parametric optimization of five-axis milling process.