This report introduces the reader to the process and to the requirements which must be considered for its installation on the shop floor. Although only electro-chemical shaping is dealt vith, many of the parameters investigated are fundpmPntal to other configurations. The machining characteristics of several high strength alloys and die steels have been investigated; also of aluminium and mild steel. Electrolyte heating effects and the physical attributes of the machined surface have been considered. Electrode and workpiece shapes have been simulated for static field examinations and these followed by investigations under dynamic machining conditions.
The paper describes an automated manufacturing system installed to produce accurate high performance compressor blades. The automation handles the material from input through the machining operations, which include broaching for root features, and ECM for aerofoils, to the finished inspected component. Finished parts can be produced from either rolled rectangular bar or from oversize forging preforms, yielding blade throughputs up to one thousand per week from each unit.
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