Virtual remanufacturing: Cross-section curve reconstruction for repairing a tip-defective blade

Abstract

Remanufacturing of damaged blades has been widely discussed in the field related with aero maintenance. Cross-section curve is the key factor for rebuilding 3D airfoil of a damaged blade. This paper focuses on how to reconstruct the cross-section curves of a tip-defective blade. The difficulty in the reconstruction of the cross-section curve is in broken region, where some data points are absent. In this paper, a method for reconstructing the cross-section curve in small-scale broken region of the blade tip is proposed. This method involves 3D noncontact digitization, methodology of obtaining the cross-section plane, cross-section curve reconstruction of the unbroken region, and cross-section curve deduction of the broken region. At last, an error analysis is carried out so as to indicate that the proposed method is appropriate for reconstructing the cross-section curve of the small-scale broken blade tip.