A new tooling, software combination to speed blisk production

Autodesk CAM software developer Delcam Ltd., working with toolmaker Technicut Ltd., has created a software and cutting tool combination for machining blisks that reportedly reduces machining time and costs about 50 percent compared to traditional methods.

PowerMILL image of a finishing operation on a blade barrel. Image courtesy Delcam.

The blisk has been an important turbo-engine component since it was introduced in the mid-1980s; prior to that, a rotor disk with individually attached blades was used. The blisk features blades and a disk as a single component, machined from a single piece of hard metal. Blisks offer advantages in weight, operating efficiency and through-life servicing but are challenging to manufacture because of their highly complex shapes and the difficulty of machining the materials used, usually a titanium or nickel-base alloy.

As with most machining projects, it comprises roughing, semifinishing and finishing. The initial roughing operation creates the blades with a series of slotting cuts using Technicut’s Titan X-Treme Ripper endmill.