Blisk Blade Preforms with Temporary Bridging Ring
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of one-piece blisks for aircraft turbine engines faces challenges with deformations and vibrations during the abrasive water jet cutting process, leading to reduced feed rates and increased production times and tool wear, which negatively impact the quality and cost of the final product.
Innovation Solution
The method involves cutting a block of material using an abrasive water jet to reveal blade preforms while retaining connection means between them, followed by milling to form profiled blade blanks, and then removing these connections to achieve the final blade profile, allowing for higher feed rates and reduced vibrations, thus minimizing tool wear and production costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If cutting by abrasive water jet is used to remove material, then manufacturing time and cost are reduced, but blade deformations and vibrations increase
Solution Approach 1:
A temporary supporting ring is introduced as an intermediary element during the cutting process. This ring mechanically connects the blade preforms to the disc, acting as a mediator that prevents deformations and vibrations during abrasive water jet cutting, while being removable afterward to allow final blade separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting ring is installed before the cutting process begins, establishing mechanical connections between blade preforms in advance. This preliminary action ensures that blades remain stable during the subsequent cutting operation, preventing vibrations and deformations that would otherwise occur.
2Manufacturing precision
If reduced feed rates are applied to limit blade vibrations, then manufacturing precision is improved, but production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting ring serves as a mechanical intermediary that stabilizes blades during high-speed cutting. By providing this external support structure, the system can maintain manufacturing precision even when operating at higher feed rates, eliminating the need to slow down to control vibrations.
3Productivity
If high feed rates are used to reduce production time, then productivity is improved, but blade deformations and vibrations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The temporary supporting ring acts as a mediator that enables high feed rates by preventing blade vibrations and deformations. The ring provides mechanical stability during the cutting process, allowing the system to operate at high productivity levels without sacrificing manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
By pre-installing the supporting ring before cutting, the system prepares the blade structure to withstand high-speed cutting forces. This preliminary reinforcement allows high feed rates to be applied without causing deformations, as the blades are mechanically supported from the outset.
4Manufacturing precision
If prolonged manufacturing times are used to reduce vibrations, then blade quality is improved, but tool wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting ring mediates the cutting process by stabilizing blades, allowing high feed rates to be used. This reduces the total cutting time and consequently decreases tool wear, while maintaining blade quality through the mechanical support provided by the ring.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces deformations and vibrations during manufacturing, enabling higher feed rates and shorter production times while maintaining the quality of the blisk, and reducing tool wear and production costs.
Implementation Method 1
a step of cutting a block of material by abrasive water jet
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 2c~2d
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for producing a one-piece bladed disc, comprising: a step in which an abrasive water jet is used to cut a block of material in such a way as to leave behind blade preforms extending radially from a disc (4), while keeping material forming bridging means (112) between at least two directly consecutive blade preforms; then a step in which the blade preforms are milled in such a way as to produce semi-finished blades (202) in profile; then a step in which said bridging means (112) are removed; and then a step in which the semi-finished blades (202) are finish-milled in such a way as to obtain the blades (2) to the final profile.