Path Generation Method for Aero- Engine Free-Form Surface Blade in Laser Solid Forming

Blade is the critical and extensively used component of aero-engine, which machining quality directly affects engine performance. Due to its flexibility, laser solid forming (LSF) from powders is widely used to synthesis novel materials, build three-dimensional parts, repair damage part and form surface coating in advanced manufacturing. To repair damaged parts or form surface coating, especially for aero-engine free-form surface blade, process of numerical control or robotic LSF is applied in industry. Nevertheless, on account of the complex geometry of the free-form surface, it's quite a challenge to generate proper laser beam paths according to the process requirements of LSF. To address this problem, a path generation method based on the differential geometry is presented. The generated paths can ensure the overlap requirements between deposited tracks as well as paths shifts between adjacent layers. The proposed method has been applied to two examples to verify their validity, and there exists a great potential for the applications in aero-engine manufacturing industry, especially in the LSF repair or surface coating of free-form surface blade.