Smoothing strategy for corner of small curvature radius by abrasive waterjet machining

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) is widely applied in 2D machining as it offers high machining efficiency and low machining cost. However, machining a 3D surface, especially for a small curvature radius freeform surface (SCRFS), results in over-erosion of the corner, and has been one of the greatest issues of AWJ. To solve this problem, a local smoothing algorithm for SCRFS is developed by the junction of two linear segments at the corner by inserting cubic second-order B-spline to smooth the nozzle path and posture under the setting tolerance error, which is aimed to avoid over-erosion due to the change in dwell time. Analytical solutions of the smooth corner position and orientation of the nozzle path are obtained by evaluating a synchronization algorithm. According to the set tolerance error of the nozzle position and orientation, the interpolation of the smooth path of the corner meets the constraint conditions of the linear feed drive. Path simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method is validated by the experimental results and has been applied to the integral blisk machining of an aero-engine.