PRODUCTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF FIVE–AXIS CNC CORE CARVING FOR ROTOR BLADE MANUFACTURE

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. recently implemented rotor blade core-machining technology. The machining technology commonly referred to as core carving significantly advanced Bell’s strategic technology competency in rotor blade manufacturing. Core-machining technology was realized when Bell installed its first core-machining center. A five-axis machining center, along with the necessary support equipment, was installed at Bell's Plant 1 facility. The coremachining cell was installed with the intent of machining composite main rotor blade core. The benefits of implementing core carving at Bell include improved quality, reduced cycle time, reduced handling, reduced dependency on outside sources, reduction in work-in-process, and capability of in-house development of new blade cores. Given the complexity of rotor blade core machining and subsequent processing, development activities began with machine tool selection and carried through the destructive and mechanical testing of several blade assemblies molded with core details carved at Bell. This paper focuses on Bell’s implementation of core carving from machine tool installation to the fabrication of flightworthy main rotor blade assemblies.