Airfoil material removal
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsThomas J. Horn, Kathleen Daudish, Micah Beckman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of removing material from an airfoil includes engaging a root of the airfoil within a root-securing fixture, engaging a tip of the airfoil within a tip-securing fixture, and removing material from the airfoil. The method further includes disengaging the tip of the airfoil from the tip-securing fixture to allow movement of the tip from a clamped state position to a free-state position. The method further includes reengaging the tip of the airfoil within the tip-securing fixture in the free-state position, and removing additional material from the airfoil.
Claims20
A method of removing material from an airfoil, the method comprising:
- engaging a root of the airfoil within a root-securing fixture;
- engaging a tip of the airfoil within a tip-securing fixture;
- removing material from the airfoil;
- disengaging the tip of the airfoil from the tip-securing fixture to allow movement of the tip from a clamped state position to a free-state position;
- reengaging the tip of the airfoil within the tip-securing fixture in the free-state position;
- and
- removing additional material from the airfoil.
A fixture system for securing an airfoil during material removal operations, the fixture system comprising:
- a root-securing fixture configured to engage a root of the airfoil;
- a tip-securing fixture configured to be selectively engageable and disengageable from a tip of the airfoil;
- and
- a control system configured to cause the tip-securing fixture to:
- engage the tip during initial removal of material from the airfoil;
- disengage the tip after the initial removal of material to allow movement of the tip from a clamped state position to a free-state position;
- and
- reengage the tip in the free-state position during additional removal of material from the airfoil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.