strated in an event hosted by INIRAM Precision, a Peabody, MA importer and distributor of five-axis milling machines. The milling approach allows complex fir-tree profiles to be produced on five-axis milling machines, rather than having to use specialist broaching equipment. Milling was demonstrated on Hermle C60 five-axis machining center for a complex fan disk. The use of trochoidal strategies provides a number of benefits, for example, giving high materials removal rates with lower and more consistent cutting forces. The more consistent cutting forces also ensure higher accuracy in the position and in the shape of the slots with minimal thermal effects on the surface of the profile. The process also reduces the number of specialist cutting tools that are required and cuts the machining time in steel alloys by 30 to 40%, compared with alternative standard milling solutions. Cutting time is almost equal to that of broaching. Introduced at IMTS, the technique was demonstrated milling small IN718 fir-tree geometries, a typical material for aero engine parts. Machining was done on Hermle’s smallest
Fir tree profile machining for turbo machinery uses trochoi- dal machining strategies in Delcam’s PowerMILL software. Milling for a complex fan disk was done on a Hermle C 22 five-axis machining center.
coolant to provide a “green” element to production of fir tree milling and blisk and blade machining. ME For more information on Delcam, go to www.delcam.com, or phone 828-299-9924; for more information on INIRAM Precision, go to www.iniram.com, or phone 978-854-3037.
five-axis machine, the C22. The process is capable of milling curved slots, deburring, and measuring them in one process. At the INIRAM event, the process was demonstrated using CO2