Curtis, David Thomas (2011)
Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.
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The work within this Thesis is concerned with the manufacturing processes associated with the production of blade root mounting slots in aeroengine compressor and turbine discs. Typically slots are of dovetail or fir-tree geometry dependent on specific design requirements. The state of the art process across the industry is broaching however, despite achieving required geometrical tolerances and surface integrity for decades the process is not without its disadvantages. Primarily these include the inflexibility of the process, machine tool cost; size and cutting forces, complexity of tooling and set up and further the limited level of control of the process beyond tooling design.
This has led to research into alternative processes across a range of conventional and non-conventional manufacturing techniques. Work presented here focuses on two key technology areas, namely point grinding and electrolytic point grinding. The former applies small diameter single layer grinding wheels on a high speed machining centre with spindle capability in the region of 60,000rpm. Target geometry was a complex fir-tree root form requiring dimensional control to within +/- 5um and a surface integrity in line with critical aerospace components. The later process investigated the unification of point grinding and electrochemical machining on a vertical machining centre to assess process performance across a range of variables.
|Type of Work:||Ph.D. thesis.|
|Supervisor(s):||Aspinwall, David K. and Soo, Sein Leung|
|School/Faculty:||Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Engineering & Physical Sciences|
|Department:||School of Mechanical Engineering|
Research related to this thesis is published in the following papers:
[A] Aspinwall DK, Soo SL, Curtis DT, Mantle AL. Profiled superabrasive grinding wheels for the machining of a nickel based superalloy. CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology. 2007; 56(1): p. 335-338.
[B] Curtis DT, Aspinwall DK, Soo SL, Davis C, Mantle AL. Performance of electroplated CBN grinding points machining Udimet 720. ISAAT 2007 Precision Grinding and Abrasive Technology at SME International Grinding Conference; 2007; Dearborn, Michigan. p. 383-389.
[C] Curtis DT, Soo SL, Aspinwall DK, Huber C, Fuhlendorf J, Grimm A. Production of complex blade mounting slots in turbine discs using novel machining techniques. 3rd International Conference on High Performance Cutting (HPC); 2008; Dublin, Ireland. p. 219-228.
[D] Curtis DT, Soo SL, Aspinwall DK, Sage C. Electochemical superabrasive machining of a nickel-based aeroengine alloy using mounted grinding points. CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology. 2009; 58(1): p. 173-176.
|Subjects:||TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery|
|Institution:||University of Birmingham|
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