NSERC/P&WC Industrial Research Chair in Virtual High Performance Machining

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The objective of modern manufacturing is to produce costly parts accurately and most economically at first trialon aerospace production floors. The first two terms of the Chair saw the development of the virtual 2 ½- axismilling and 5-axis flank milling technologies, which have since been transferred to industry. In the third term,the Chair's research will focus on the technologies used in 5-axis ball end milling of gas turbine blades.A generalized, reconfigurable and modular kinematic model of 5-axis machine tools will be modeled forvirtual testing of blade machining ahead of costly capital investments. The tool paths will be smoothed to avoiddiscontinuities in the axis velocities along five axis paths. The contouring errors around the sharp curvatures ofblades will be predicted and compensated based on the mathematical model of the machine tool. The timevarying structural dynamics of the blade along the tool path will be modeled, and integrated into the VirtualMachining System to predict cutting forces, torque, power, vibrations and dimensional form errors during5-axis ball-end milling of blades. The depth and width of cuts, spindle speeds and feed rates will be optimized,leading to the most economical yet accurate machining of costly parts. When completed, the Chair will achievea science-based simulation and optimization system to predict the behaviour of machine tools and the five-axisvirtual ball end milling of flexible blades. The system has a wide application in the aerospace, die and moldmachining industry worldwide.The Chair is sponsored by NSERC and Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) Corporation. P&WC is a worldleader in the design and manufacturing of small gas turbine engines, and has a significant number of complex3- to 5-axis machining applications. This research draws additional support and collaboration from majornational and international companies and research centres worldwide. The findings will be published in openliterature, and the technology will be disseminated to industry through Virtual Machining Software and thetraining of graduate students and practicing engineers.