Tool path generation for long turbine blades machined with twin-cutters

A method of tool path generation for long turbine blades machined with twin-cutters is proposed to reduce the deformation. The movement system is designed which can realize the machine process with twin-cutters. The mathematics model of the blade is presented based on the NURBS surface, and an analytic model of cutting force of the bullnose cutter is also built. After that, the tool path is generated base on the designed system. Finite element analyses are carried out to compare the two kinds of schemes with one cutter and twin-cutters. The results show that the path with twin-cutters can effectively reduce the blade deformation by 56.76% on average, which is greatly helpful to machine the long blades accurately.