Optimal barrel cutter selection for the CNC machining of blisk

•Geometric properties and location of four types of barrel cutters are introduced.•Optimal tool flute size selection of barrel cutter to avoid the local gouges.•Optimization of tool shaft diameter to avoid the global interferences.•Numerical examples for proving the validity of the proposed method.

Barrel cutters have been widely used in the flank milling of blisk. In this paper, a new method is proposed to select an optimal barrel cutter in the interest of the high productivity in the CNC machining of blisk. The geometric properties and location of four types of barrel cutters are firstly introduced. Then the optimal size of the tool flute with a greater barrel radius is determined. Meanwhile, the local gouges and kinematic constraints of the CNC machine tool are also taken into account. Furthermore, in order to avoid the global interferences between the tool shaft and the blade in process, the center point of circular arc generatrix is adjusted. Finally, the tool shaft diameter is optimized to improve tool rigidity and avoid the global interferences between the tool shaft and the adjacent blades. The numerical examples prove that a feasible barrel cutter with the higher productivity can be obtained by the proposed method in this paper. Therefore, this method can be directly applied in the CNC machining of blisk or centrifugal impeller.