Evaluation of cutter orientations in 5-axis high speed milling of turbine blade

Abstract Recently, the development of aerospace and automobile industries has brought new technological challenges, related to the growing complexity of products and the new geometry of the models. High speed milling with a 5-axis milling machine has been widely used for 3D sculptured surface parts. When turbine blades are machined by a 5-axis milling, their thin and cantilever shape causes vibrations, deflections and twists. Therefore, the surface roughness and the waviness of the workpiece are not good. In this paper, the effects of cutter orientation and the lead/tilt angle used to machine turbine blades with a 5-axis high speed ball end-milling were investigated to improve geometric accuracy and surface integrity. The experiments were performed using a lead/tilt angle of 15° to the workpiece with four cutter directions such as horizontal outward, horizontal inward, vertical outward, and vertical inward directions. Workpiece deflection, surface roughness and the machined surface were all measured with various cutter orientations such as cutting directions, and lead/tilt angle. The results show that the best cutting strategy for machining turbine blades with a 5-axis milling is horizontal inward direction with a tilt angle.