Surface reconstruction and extrapolation from multiple range images for automatic turbine blades repair

This paper reports on the results of an ongoing European research project aiming to develop an integrated mechatronics system for turbine blades repair using advanced 3D sensing and multi-axis NC milling technology. The essence of the system is its capability of generating NC milling paths adaptively for turbine blades which can significantly vary from their nominative dimensions and shapes. The path generation is based on an reconstruction and extrapolation algorithm that automatically reconstructs the ideal geometric model of blades from multiple range images and is described in details.