Marine Technology, Vol. 26, No. 3, July 1989, pp.

202-209

Numerically Controlled Machining of Propeller Blades

M a r k F. N i t t e l 1

This paper describes state-of-the-art manufacture of ship propeller blades with numerically controlled
(NC) machining. A brief explanation of the rationale for NC machining is provided, followed by a dis-
cussion of the operating experience of a blade machining center over the past six years. Some of the
unique considerations involved in the NC programming and machining processes are described along
with some of the most common production problems. The factors leading to the company's decision to
expand the blade machining center are discussed along with a description of the design and procure-
ment of the new equipment and facilities. Tolerances achieved by NC machining and hand finishing
are compared.

NUMERICALLY CONTROLLED (NC) machining is, in 1989,
nearly 40 years old and is an accepted manufacturing pro-
cess with applications in all phases of industry. NC ma-
chining offers production efficiency, accuracy, and repeata-
bility and these attributes make it well suited for the
manufacture of ship propeller blades. Bird-Johnson Com-
party first became involved in the NC machining of propeller
blades during the DD 963 building program in the early
1970's. Initially, the work was subcontracted, but by late 1981
the company had commissioned an in-house blade machin-
ing center with both three- and five-axis NC milling ma-
chines. Ridley in 1982 [1]~ documented the steps that led to
the procurement of this facility along with a description of
its construction and start-up. This paper is intended as a
follow-up to the original work of reference [1] and discusses
experiences and developments in numerically controlled ma-
chining that have taken place at the facility since 1982. In
addition, a comparison between hand finished and NC ma-
chined blades is provided that demonstrates the all-around
better tolerances achieved with NC equipment.
Rationale for NC machining
When one considers the extensive capital investment in-
volved in acquiring NC machining capability for marine
propeller blades, a logical question to ask is, ~'What makes
NC machining so superior to hand finishing?" The answer
to this question covers three major areas of interest for the
propeller manufacturer. They are blade-to-blade repeatabil-
ity, acoustic considerations, and production cost per unit. In
each area the NC machining possesses certain advantages
over hand finishing as discussed in the following para-
graphs.
~Blade-to-blade repeatability" refers to the degree to which
blades of a given design can approach the ideal of all being
dimensionally identical. Superior "blade-to-blade" repeata-
bility is achieved with NC machining because all the vari-
able human factors associated with hand-finished blades are
eliminated. Hand finishing can, with special care, produce
blades that are relatively identical along the lines of con-
stant radius where inspections are made, but it is between
these radii where fairing is done ~'by eye" that variability
'Staff Naval Architect, Bird-Johnson Company, Walpole, Masachu-
seats.
2Numbers in brackets designate References at end of paper.
Presented to the October 13, 1988 meeting of the New England Sec-
tion of THE SOCIETY OF NAVALARCHITECTSANDMARINEENGINEERS.
occurs. To produce truly identical surfaces, the individuals
doing the grinding must remember exactly how the first was
done and then repeat the process on all other blades. Clearly
this task is next to impossible for even the most skilled of
craftsman and can be achieved only with numerous addi-
tional inspections at large numbers of intermediate loca-
tions. NC programming, by its very nature, does remember
exactly how the first surface was made and precisely repeats
the process for every unit. In addition, the fairing of the sur-
face between inspection locations will more accurately re-
flect the intent of the propeller designer because of the
mathematical model developed to determine the machine
paths. Further, better blade-to-blade repeatability leads to
superior interchangeability in built-up and controllable-pitch
propellers because a much closer tolerance on weight and
center of gravity is achieved and individual blades can be
substituted without adversely affecting the dynamic balance
of the assembled propeller.
In the area of acoustics, NC machined blades possess an
advantage over hand-finished blades due to the high accu-
racy of the tip and surface geometry manufacture and the
blade-to-blade uniformity described above. The manufacture
of blade tips is crucial to the control of tip vortex cavitation,
which in turn affects ship noise performance. Hand-finished
tips will vary from blade to blade and may or may not reflect
the propeller designer's intention at locations other than
where the tip inspection gages are applied. This, coupled with
other blade-to-blade surface variations associated with hand
finishing, leads to differences in the cavitation performance
of each blade and results in an ~acoustic fingerprint" for each
propeller on each ship of a class using the same design. NC
machining ensures a uniformity in cavitation performance
of all blades on a ship and on all ships of t h a t class, imped-
ing acoustic identification because all blades on all ships tend
to sound the same. In addition, the high-quality tip geom-
etry achieved with NC tends to suppress premature tip vor-
tex cavitation, allowing higher cavitation-free speeds of op-
eration than might otherwise be achieved.
Production cost of an NC machined propeller blade is typ-
ically lower than for hand-finished units even when one con-
siders the relatively high overhead costs associated with op-
erating and maintaining the machine. The experience the
company has had to date indicates that NC machining re-
quires approximately less than half the time of an equiva-
lent hand-finishing operation and this difference outweighs
the higher cost of machine time. Programming and tooling
can be extensive and, consequently, expensive, as explained
later herein. When these expenses are considered, the per-

202 0025-3316/89/2603-0202500.41/0 MARINE TECHNOLOGY

unit cost for a relatively small production run of NC blades
tends to be about equal to that for hand-finished blades, with
a superior product for the money resulting. For larger pro-
duction runs, NC machining has been found to be less ex-
pensive, even if the programming charge is considered, be-
cause this one-time cost is distributed over many units,
resulting in less of an impact on total unit cost. It should
also be noted that once the machine programming and tool-
ing have been developed, they can be retained by the man-
ufacturer, making it possible to produce replacement blades
at any time quickly and efficiently.

Experience with blade machining

During the six years that the company has operated its
blade machining, nearly 500 blades have been produced, in-
volving NC programming and tooling for eight different pro-
peller blade designs (see Table 1). During this period, the
intricacies of this type of manufacturing have become ap-
parent and each succeeding programming effort has pro-
vided additional programming expertise.
One of the most indispensable elements necessary to sup-
port a successful propeller blade NC machining facility is
the personnel who develop the programs. To do the job, an
NC programmer must have a manufacturing engineering
background, understand how machine tools work, under-
stand how to select the proper tool, understand the limits
and features of the machine he is programming, possess a
good knowledge of computers and mathematics, and know
how to translate terminology unique to propellers into the
language of a machinist. An individual possessing all the
aforementioned abilities is not likely to appear at the com-
pany's doorstep seeking employment. Consequently, a large
amount of on-the-job training is required to obtain qualified
NC programmers. It has been our experience that close at-
tention to this human asset is vital to the smooth operation
of our blade machining center, because there is no substitute
for this type of know-how.
CAD/CAM (computer aided design/computer aided man-
ufacturing) is another key element of the blade machining
process. CAD/CAM is used during the machine program-
ming process to first define the hydrodynamic surface of the
blade and then to determine the machining paths. Defini-
tion of the hydrodynamic surface for machining begins with
the propeller blade design ~'table of offsets" and goes through
several stages before the cutter path and type can be deter-
mined. Propeller blade geometry information typically found
on the drawing describes section shapes at a number of con-
stant radii along the blade span (from root to tip) as shown
in Fig. 1. At each radius the section shape is described along
the chord length as shown in Fig. 2. In addition, a number
of other geometry factors are used to describe the location
Fig. 1 Explanation of terms "spanwise" and "chordwise"
and orientation of each section in space [2,3]. The first step
of the surface definition process is to convert (by computer)
the rather unique blade geometry system into a conven-
tional X, Y, Z coordinate system. With an X, Y, Z coordinate
defined at each chord point on each radius the CAD system
is used to determine three-dimensional splines in both the
chordwise and spanwise directions as shown by Fig. 3. Note
that the density of splines in the leading edge and tip areas
is greater because the rate of geometry change as a function
of chord location is far greater than elsewhere on the blade.
At this point, the preliminary hydrodynamic surface is de-
fined but does not include the fillets, which serve to ~'fair"
the blade root into the hub and provide additional strength.
Depending on the complexity of the fillet, five to fifteen
planar sections parallel to the Y-axis and perpendicular to
the root section nose-tail line (Fig. 4) are splined to define
the fillet. In addition, cross splines are faired through the
intersection of these planar sections with the flange edge,
the points of tangency between the small fillet radius (Fig.
5) and the flange surface, the points of tangency between
the small and large fillet radii, and the points of tangency
between the fillet large radius and the blade surface, as shown
in Fig. 6. The defined fillet is merged with the hydrody-
namic surface previously defined, resulting in the complete
blade surface as shown by Fig. 7.
Once the complete blade surface is defined, it is checked
both for smoothness and potential machining conflicts. The
5% 0%
15% 10%

20%

30%
Table 1 Propeller blade manufactured with NC machining at author's
company 40

50~
Ship/Class Number Produced
60%
MV Roger Blough 4
MV Shell America 8 70%
CG 47 Class 180
FFG 7 Class (U.S. Navy) 90 80%
FFG 7 Class (Australian Navy) 5
FFG 7 Class (Spanish Navy) 15
LSD 41 Class 45
MCM 1 Class 90
T-AO 187 Class 32
TOTAL 469 100%

DDG 51 Class (in production)

Fig. 2 Typical chord section definition

JULY 1989 203


Fig. 3 Spline definition of hydrodynamic surface
smoothness is checked in all directions by running full-scale
plots, and any discontinuities discovered are dealt with by
the addition or deletion of splines in the offending region.
The potential machining conflicts typically occur where fil-
let surface and blade surface definitions meet and care must
be taken to see that they do not overlap. The consequence
of such an overlap is that part of the fillet area could be
unintentionally machined off.
Once the programmer is satisfied with the surface defi-
nition, the next step is to determine the machine paths and
cutter selection. Here the goal is to choose a combination
that machines the surface to the desired accuracy with the
greatest efficiency. Note that '~efficiency" means maximum
material removal in the minimum amount of time. In gen-
eral, the leading and trailing edges are machined with span-
wise cutter paths while faces are cut with chordwise paths.
The CAD system is again used to develop the actual trajec-
Y Y
Fig. 4 Typical fillet sections
204
LARGERAOIUS/BLADE SURFACE
I ~ TA~GENCYPOINT
,~,,~ , SMALLRADIUS/LAPG
, ERADIUS
LARGERADIUS+ ~ ~ T~GENCYPOINT
\ , FLANGESURFACE/SMALL RADIUS
TANGENCYPOINT
Fig. 5 Explanation of fillet geometry and tangency po=nts
tory of the cutter paths for each region (or patch) of the blade
specified by the programmer. This process is an interactive
one and relies heavily on the experience and skill of the NC
programmer to come up with the optimal combination of
cutter and machine path. Care must be taken to ensure t h a t
the cutter selected works properly over the path in question.
For example, on concave surfaces the effective cutter radius
must not exceed the smallest surface radius present or extra
material will be removed even though the programming is
otherwise correct. When the c u t t e r / p a t h selection is com-
plete, a "post-processor" is used to convert them into the
commands used by the NC machining equipment and tapes
are then punched. Note that, in most cases, both ~roughing"
and ~final" passes are programmed.
The choice of NC machine to be used for blade manufac-
ture is an additional consideration of the programming pro-
cess. The programmer has both three-axis (Fig. 8) and five-
axis (Fig. 9) NC milling machines to choose from (see Table
2) and a number of factors are evaluated to select the ma-
chine. The envelope of volume the machine must accom-
modate is often much larger than the physical size and shape
of the blade itself because space for working clearance, cut-
ter retraction distances, and fixturing must be provided. The
Fig. 6 Fillet geometry definition
MARINE TECHNOLOGY

Y
Fig. 7 Merge of fillet and hydrodynamic surface definition
size factor often dictates the use of either a single setup on
a five-axis machine (which has greater cutter travel and
reach) or multiple setups on a three-axis machine. Typically,
the five-axis machine is chosen for large production runs be-
cause the complication of additional setups can be avoided,
and because the two additional machining axes available al-
low for optimum cutter orientation everywhere on the sur-
face. The latter allow for face mills rather than ball mills to
be used, making the width of each machining pass greater
and thus enhancing efficiency. The complexity of the surface
to be machined is an additional factor in that certain ge-
~ SPI ll~l.E
1116 TNK(
Fig, 8 Lucas 3-axis machine
JULY 1989
/
,%~.~,c=,. ,0 N
TAOL[ "~"~""'~~
Fig. 9 Waldrich Coburg 5-axis machine
ometry features (such as leading edges) can be done most
efficiently on a five-axis machine. Frequently, certain fea-
tures will be cut on the five-axis machine and the remaining
less-complex surfaces on the three-axis machine. Note that
the production schedule and workload in the blade machin-
ing facility play a part in machine selection. In practice, the
best equipment to do the job is not always available in time
to meet delivery, and the next best alternative is chosen.
As in all production operations, a problem of one sort or
another inevitably arises during the machining process. One
such difficulty is casting flaws which require repair. These
flaws are typically voids, porosity, or inclusions that were
not apparent during the inspection of the raw casting and
are usually found in the edge (leading or trailing) and flange
area. Repair is straightforward--excavation of the affected
region until good material is found, followed by a weld re-
pair. The best way to avoid additional welding problems is
to verify that the casting has the correct chemical compo-
sition, thus ensuring good weldability.
Another related production challenge occurs on blades
where the design calls for an extensive amount of welding
to include a specific feature. If this welding is done at an
intermediate stage (that is, before the ~final" machining pass),
distortion of some sort is almost a certainty. Here again, the
skill and experience of the NC programmer comes into play
when he estimates the distortion effects and adjusts the NC
programming to ensure that all geometry features end up
in the proper location.
It is important here to mention the staff of backup per-
sonnel required to keep complicated NC machines operating.
At the most basic level, all the tooling (cutters and mills)
must be inspected for wear and general condition and be kept
in proper tolerance. More important, the performance of a
given NC program on a given machine must be constantly
evaluated for any trend toward greater deviation from plan
requirements (although still within allowable tolerances)
which could indicate machine wear. (In such a situation, the
program can be adjusted to again achieve previous perfor-
mance.) Equally important are the personnel who operate
and maintain the machines. Operators must possess an above-
average knowledge of NC machining and undergo specific
205
 Table 2 NC machining facilities
Subject Description
Area Main work area: 280 by 55 ft (15 400 ft 2)
Adjacent work area: 280 by 20 ft (5600 ft 2)
NC equipment One Waldrich Coburg Model S15-10 GM 450
CNC Traveling Portal 5-axis Gantry Mill
with Siemens Sinumeric 8 MC controls; 50-hp,
7-in.-diameter spindle with 2-axis swivelling
milling head; 108-in. (max.) clearance between
floor plate and spindle head; 59-in. vertical
ram travel; 216 in. between columns (max.
milling width); profile, contour, mirror image
milling capability with all 5 axes under
computer control; 256 000 character memory,
inductosyn scales on X, Y, Z, A, and C axes:
optional high-speed, speed increaser (1:4) ratio;
infinitely variable spindle speed from 40-540
rpm; positioning accuracy (including lost motion
from direction reversal) within -+(0.006 in. plus
0.0001 in. per foot of travel) for linear X, Y,
and Z, and -+(20 sec of arc) for angular A and
C axes; and repeatability within -+(0.0004 in.)
on linear axes and -+(4 sec) of arc on angular
axes
One Ingersoll Vertical/Horizontal (V/H)
Fixed Rail Masterhead Dual Table 5-axis
Machining Center equipped with Nutating
spindle unit, Allen Bradley 8200 Controls and
Hewlett-Packard 1000 supervisory control; 125-
hp spindle drive, 10-2500 rpm; interchangeable
spindle units; 108 in. width between columns;
89-in. clearance between table and spindle unit
mounting face; two tables, 98 x 157 in. each,
controlled independently or coupled; 373 in. of
X travel, 180 in. of Y travel and 39 in. of Z
travel; inductosyn scales on all axes;
hydrostatic worm drives on tables and crossrail;
44-position tool changer (expandable); and
75 000 lb per table weight capacity
Two Lucas Model 40T 1010 Table Type 3-axis
CNC X-axis Horizontal Boring Mills with
Allen Bradley Controls--#7320B CNC; 40 hp
with 6-in. diameter spindle; 120-in. vertical
headstock travel; 120-in. table cross travel; 36-
and 42-in. saddle travel; 48-in. spindle travel,
profile, contour, mirror image milling
capability with all 3 axes under computer
control; 32K and 64K memory capabilities;
inductosyn scales on X, Y, and Z axes, spindle
speed from 5.6 to 1200 rpm; positioning
accuracy (including lost motion from directional
reversal) within linear X, Y, and W axes
-+(0.0004 in. plus 0.0001 in. per foot of travel)
and Z axis -+(0.0001 in.) at any place in travel;
repeatability within -+(0.0002 in.) on linear X,
Y, and W axes and within -+(0.0002 in.) on Z
axis; 72 x 134 in. table sizes and 60 000 lb
table capacity
NOTE: 1 in. = 2.54 cm; 1 ft = 0.3048 m; 1 lb = 0.45 kg; 1 hp =
0.7457 kW.
t r a i n i n g for each machine. It is essential to have m a i n t e -
nance personnel with t r a d i t i o n a l mechanical skills and elec-
tronics knowledge, and who know a good deal about ma-
c h i n i n g propeller blades in order to troubleshoot and fix the
equipment.
Blade machining center expansion program
By 1986 the company had cultivated sufficient skill and
experience to become a recognized leader in three- and five-
axis m a c h i n i n g of complex contours a n d was being ap-
proached by potential customers outside the shipbuilding in-
dustry seeking to contract specialty precision m a c h i n i n g ser-
vices. Careful investigation confirmed a significant potential
206
for this type of business and the company began to consider
the acquisition of additional five-axis NC m a c h i n i n g capa-
bility. I n addition to the new business potential, other rea-
sons for expansion were present. First of all, there was no
backup for the existing five-axis m a c h i n e should a serious
breakdown occur (such a breakdown was becoming statis-
tically more likely with each passing year). Second, there
was a clear wish to have more five-axis m a c h i n i n g flexibil-
ity in terms of spindle head features a n d the size of the part
to be worked on. Finally, the need for a n improved inspec-
tion area to support the specialty m a c h i n i n g business, a n d
a n enclosed blade polishing area to help keep metallic dust
out of the NC m a c h i n e electronics, had been identified. The
board of directors took these issues u n d e r consideration and
in 1986 authorized a blade m a c h i n i n g center expansion pro-
gram t h a t included both a new machine and a n addition to
the building.
With the expansion program approved, the first order of
business was the procurement of the new five-axis machine,
which was expected to have the longest lead time. Experi-
ence with the first five-axis machine helped to form ideas
about what to look for in a second machine. The desirable-
features list included a more powerful spindle head, a n abil-
ity to do setups of one part while a n o t h e r was being ma-
chined, robotic tool changer, the ability to easily change the
spindle head, and the ability to add additional capabilities
at a later date. Further, the traditional factors of price, de-
livery, and service were also i m p o r t a n t considerations. After
a thorough %omparison shopping exercise," a m a c h i n e man-
ufactured by the Ingersoll Milling Machine Company of
Rockford, Illinois was found to be the best choice in terms
of features, price, and delivery. In addition, the fact t h a t it
was made in the United States was a welcome benefit in
terms of parts, service, and language.
An order was placed with Ingersoll in November of 1986.
Figure 10, which comes from the manufacture's brochure,
shows the general appearance of the m a c h i n e except for the
automatic tool checking station and a u x i l i a r y spindle u n i t
system. Note t h a t the dual work tables allow for the desired
feature of m a c h i n i n g one part while a n o t h e r is being set up,
or can be connected for larger work up to a weight of 75 tons.
In addition, the machine has its own m a n a g e m e n t system
t h a t keeps track of commands executed and t h a t monitors
cutter condition. The machine was proofed and accepted at
the factory in A u g u s t 1987 and the first hardware was re-
ceived in house in September of that year. I n s t a l l a t i o n took
approximately ten weeks, u s i n g the same Ingersoll person-
nel who assembled the machine in Rockford. The concept of
machine builders as installers worked well and significantly
reduced the time to do the job. The new m a c h i n e was proofed
and accepted in late November 1987 and the first production
work was performed in December. Note t h a t from order to
acceptance, only twelve months had elapsed.
The addition to the blade m a c h i n i n g center b u i l d i n g also
progressed swiftly. The new structure was a n extension of
the existing building with the same "high bay/low bay" cross
section. After obtaining the necessary permits from the town
of Walpole, construction began in April 1987 and was suf-
ficiently complete by September to accommodate installa-
tion of the new machine. Little site preparation was nec-
essary because the addition was built on what had been a
paved propeller blade storage area. The high bay houses the
new five-axis machine while the low bay houses the new
inspection and blade polishing areas.
The new inspection bay is designed to handle all inspec-
tion services in one location close to the three- and five-axis
machines. It is t e m p e r a t u r e controlled and contains a coor-
dinate m e a s u r i n g machine (CMM). In addition, a theodolite
inspection system is in use. This is a new acquisition which
MARINE TECHNOLOGY
 V/H MACHINE WITH MASTERHEAD
V/H machining center with Masterhead,
interchangeable spindle units, dual tables,
robotic toolchanger and automatic tool
checking station. T h e robot loads and
unloads the checking station which auto-
matically measures tool lengths and
diameters. Data flows from the checking
station t o l h e ISC which calculates offsets
Track mounting
for pendant
and inputs t h e m to the part program as
the tools are used.
System shown includes computer-
directed traveling carriers to position tools
and spindle units for automatic changing.
Auxiliary spindle unit systems
(available with robotic transport
shown or for stationary location)

Crossrail--
adjustable type shown
(fixed rail available)

Pendant station

Masterhead

Dual worktables
(single table w/pallet changer available)

\ \ "%~%%
\ Automatic tool
checking station

Tool racks on tracks Robotic toolchanger

(stationary racks available) (stationary or gantry type available)

Fig. 10 Ingersoll 5-axis machine

uses laser technology to obtain extremely accurate mea-
surements of geometry of surface. The system is completely
portable and eliminates the need for cumbersome propeller
blade gages or other equally cumbersome inspection fix-
tures.
The new blade polishing bay is designed to keep the blade
machining center free of grinding dust. Experience had in-
dicated that this was a major source of trouble in the elec-
tronic systems of the NC machines. The area is closed off
and ventilated through filters to the outside. The work space
is also larger than that previously available.
angular spacing and blade-to-blade ~coordinate in space con-
formance" are of interest. Note that the latter refers to how
well a given point on each blade falls on the same radius
and same plane of rotation.
To date, no meaningful comparison of hand-finished ver-
sus NC machined blades in a local coordinate system exists.
The difficulty is t h a t very precise plots of the as-manufac-
tured leading edges, trailing edges, and tips must exist for
a number of NC and hand-finished blades. Presently, such
a database has not been developed because one rarely finds
sufficient quantities of both NC and hand-finished blades of

Tolerances achieved: NC m a c h i n i n g versus hand-

finishing GLOBAL"Z" AXIS
Three coordinate systems must be considered when mak-
ing comparisons between tolerances achieved with NC ma-
~w,~ LOCALCOORDN
I ATE
chining and those achieved with hand finishing. They are
illustrated in Fig. 11 and are as follows:
L o c a l coordinate s y s t e m - - U s e d to define the geometry of
leading edges, trailing edges, and tips. In most cases the lo-
cal section geometry system of offsets at a percentage of chord \ SYSTEMAT CN-IE ' JR
E__ \ / t ....... ~ " ~ ""~'-
length is used. LEADN
I GEDGETH
i -i/KRES ~,,~PITCH
B l a d e coordinate s y s t e m - - U s e d to define several blade
geometry features, including rake, skew, pitch, thickness,
chord length, and camber. Here all dimensions refer back to
the shaft centerline and blade spindle axis (the latter is for
controllable-pitch propellers; for fixed pitch a blade refer- / /
ence line is used). Note t h a t thickness and camber, which
appear to be in a "local" system as defined above, are in fact
dependent on the blade spindle axis to determine the loca-
tion and orientation of the chord section of interest.
Global g e o m e t r y s y s t e m - - U s e d for the entire propeller
with all points of all blade surfaces in space measured rel- GLOBAL"X" AXIS
ative to the same coordinate system. Here, blade-to-blade Fig. 11 Local, blade, and global coordinate systems

JULY 1989 207

 Table 3 Typical blade manufacturing tolerances compared with specification for hand-finished and NC blades

CG 47 Propeller Blade height (flange to tip) = 6.3 ft

Diameter = 17.0 ft Blade width (maximum chord) = 7.0 ft

Hand-Finished Blade NC Machined Blade

1 2 1 2 3 4 5 Tolerance a
Blade
identification No . . . . . . . 7-84 5-84 9-84 13-84 11-84
Chord (in.)
max deviation +0.231 -0.879 -0.152 -0.121 -0.163 0.109 -0.221 +0 - 0 . 4 2 b
Pitch (%)
max deviation 0.394 -0.307 -0.398 -0.389 -0.382 -0.426 -0.367 + 1.00
avg deviation 0.114 0.005 -0.226 -0.213 -0.194 -0.232 -0.252 -+0.75
Skew (~ 0.95R (deg) 0.0002 0.0051 0.0059 0.0022 0.0143
Avg skew (deg) 0.0329 0.0022 -0.0047 -0.0114 -0.0170 -0.0149 -0.0006 +-0.25
Rake (in.) 0.95R 0.157 0.081 -0.011 -0.004 -0.014 +0.003 -0.027 _+0.51
Blade heat No. L86-514 L87-411 87-E-18 87-E-20 87-E-22 87-W-22 87-E-14
A1 content (%)~ 8.94 9.01 8.86 8.93 9.09

"Tolerance is per DOD-P-24562(SH) dated 11 J a n u a r y 1982, except as noted.

bTolerance on section half-length is +0 -0.42. Deviations shown are total chord lengths.
CTolerance is angular blade spacing.
~Range of a l u m i n u m content per MIL-B-21230 is 8.5 to 11%. The first set of blades was bought to this specification from an outside
vendor. The set of blades shown here is from Bird-Johnson Company, Pascagoula, and reflects closer control of a l u m i n u m content. This
helps control density and allows balance to be affected by adding weight in blade counterbores r a t h e r t h a n removing material from blade
hydrodynamic surfaces.

t h e s a m e d e s i g n . E v e n w h e n t h i s does occur, a p a i n s t a k i n g f a r less b l a d e - t o - b l a d e v a r i a t i o n a n d t e n d to d e v i a t e less f r o m

i n s p e c t i o n m u s t b e p e r f o r m e d a t a n u m b e r of t i p a n d e d g e
l o c a t i o n s . O n l y o n e s u c h s e t of m e a s u r e m e n t s is k n o w n to
t h e a u t h o r . T h e s e w e r e t a k e n a t t h e b l a d e t i p of o n e N C
machined blade and one hand-finished blade, and indicated
better uniformity and plan conformance on the NC blade.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , a s a m p l e size of o n e c o m p a r i s o n is n o t suf-
f i c i e n t to d r a w a n y m e a n i n g f u l c o n c l u s i o n s .
In a blade coordinate system a more meaningful compar-
i s o n of N C m a c h i n e d b l a d e s a n d h a n d - f i n i s h e d b l a d e s h a s
b e e n accomplished. R e c e n t l y , two h a n d - f i n i s h e d CG-47 C l a s s
p r o p e l l e r b l a d e s w e r e i n s p e c t e d a n d c o m p a r e d w i t h five N C
m a c h i n e d b l a d e s of t h e s a m e d e s i g n ; t h e r e s u l t s a r e g i v e n
i n T a b l e s 3 a n d 4. A q u i c k s u r v e y of t h e s e t a b l e s i n d i c a t e s
that the two hand-finished blades are not entirely within
s p e c i f i c a t i o n t o l e r a n c e s , w h i l e t h e f i v e N C b l a d e s are. U p o n
closer examination, it can be seen that the NC blades have
p l a n r e q u i r e m e n t s . N o t e also t h a t for t h i c k n e s s ( T a b l e 4) t h e
N C b l a d e s a l l d e v i a t e o n t h e " p l u s " side of p l a n r e q u i r e -
m e n t s a n d c o u l d e a s i l y h a v e b e e n m a c h i n e d closer.
T h e s a m e h a n d - f i n i s h e d i n s p e c t i o n s c i t e d a b o v e also pro-
v i d e a c o m p a r i s o n of N C v e r s u s h a n d f i n i s h e d i n a g l o b a l
c o o r d i n a t e s y s t e m . T a b l e 5 l i s t s t h e '~worst" d e v i a t i o n of a
coordinate in space from design at several radii. Here again
d e v i a t i o n s a r e l a r g e r a n d less c o n s i s t e n t for t h e h a n d - f i n -
i s h e d b l a d e s b o t h i n t e r m s of r a d i a l a n d b l a d e - t o - b l a d e v a r i -
a t i o n . T h i s t a b l e also d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e r e p e a t a b i l i t y ob-
t a i n e d w i t h NC, a s c a n b e s e e n b y c o m p a r i n g t h e c o l u m n s
of n u m b e r s for t h e f i v e N C b l a d e s .
N o t e t h a t t h e c o m p a r i s o n s d e s c r i b e d i n T a b l e s 3, 4, a n d 5
do u t i l i z e a s m a l l s a m p l e size of h a n d - f i n i s h e d b l a d e s . C e r -
t a i n l y , m o r e b l a d e s of e a c h t y p e n e e d to b e c o m p a r e d to ob-
t a i n s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . W h a t h a s b e e n d e m o n s t r a t e d is

Table 4 Thickness of NC and hand-finished blades compared with specification

Hand-Finished Blade NC Machined Blade

1 2 1 2 3 4 5 Tolerance
Blade
identification No. . . . . . . 7-84 5-84 9-84 13-84 11-84 ...
Thickness
0.45R max 0.170 0.118 0.081 0.085 0.076 0.084 0.051 + 0.105 - 0.053
mln 0.105 0.110 0.037 0.045 0.039 0.053 0.022
0.55R max 0.166 0.074 0.077 0.076 0.074 0.086 0.061 +0.089 - 0 . 0 4 4
mm 0.067 0.013 0.057 0.057 0.057 0.066 0.027
0.65R max 0.110 0.072 0.074 0.074 0.073 0.076 0.064 +0.077 - 0 . 0 3 8
mm 0.004 0.006 0.039 0.051 0.043 0.053 0.024
0.75R max 0.094 0.069 0.061 0.063 0.062 0.069 0.055 +0.068 - 0 . 0 3 4
mm 0.024 -0.060 0.050 0.050 0.029 0.052 0.027
0.85R max 0.106 0.096 0.041 0.052 0.038 0.053 0.039 +0.062 -0.031
mm 0.009 -0.041 0.026 0.031 0.016 0.030 0.011
0.95R max 0.028 0.031 0.015 0.027 0.005 0.024 0.014 + 0.062 -0.031
mm -0.063 -0.076 -0.004 0.002 -0.019 -0.003 -0.016
Thickness range 0.106 0.137 0.044 0.040 0.037 0.031 0.040

aPlus tolerance is plus 0.031 + 1.25% of m a x i m u m thickness; minus tolerance is 1/2 of plus. Thickness data reflect accuracy of airfoil
shape at a given radius.

208 MARINE TECHNOLOGY

 Table 5 Deviation of coordinate in space from design for hand-finished and NC machined blades

Hand-Finished Blade NC Machined Blade

1 2 1 2 3 4 5
Blade
identification No. __ __ 7-84 5-84 9-84 13-84 11-84
0.45R 0.'127 0.'143 0.055 0.047 0.040 0.046 0.051
0.55R 0.106 0.170 0.067 0.057 0.055 0.063 0.063
0.65R 0.128 0.126 0.079 0.064 0.060 0.068 0.072
0.75R 0.930 0.107 0.088 0.076 0.068 0.081 0.082
0.85R 0.126 0.194 0.090 0.085 0.075 0.087 0.090
0.95R 0.100 0.232 0.093 0.093 0.093 0.084 0.099

NOTE: The above reflects gross movement of blade in space as well a local deviations.

a t r e n d toward better blade-to-blade repeatability and better
conformance to p l a n r e q u i r e m e n t s t h a t is achievable with
NC machining.
C l o s i n g remarks
The i n t e n t of this paper has been to a c q u a i n t the reader
with NC m a c h i n i n g of ship propeller blades from the m a n -
ufacturer's point of view. The production efficiency, accu-
racy, and repeatability characteristics of this type of ma-
c h i n i n g make it most attractive to the propeller builder, who
has been called upon in recent years to produce increasingly
complex designs to progressively closer tolerances. Program-
m i n g for NC m a c h i n i n g is a complex process which relies on
the skill and experience of the p r o g r a m m i n g personnel to
define the surface geometry to be machined and to select the
optimal combination of tool path and cutter. Likewise, the
operation and m a i n t e n a n c e of NC machines necessitate
u n i q u e l y skilled individuals. Finally, comparisons between
hand-finished blades and NC machined blades indicate t h a t
the latter deviate less from plan dimensions and have better
repeatability.
In closing, it should be recognized t h a t m a n y u n a n s w e r e d
questions regarding NC m a c h i n i n g of propeller blades re-
main. For example, the effects of various NC m a c h i n i n g pa-
rameters such as pass width, cusp height, pass orientation
to flow, and global tolerances on hydrodynamic performance
are not known. Research projects t h a t systematically inves-
tigate the hydrodynamic and cost implications of each such
m a c h i n i n g p a r a m e t e r are needed in order to make NC ma-
c h i n i n g as cost effective as possible.
References
1 Ridley, D. E., "New NC Blade Machining Facility," SNAME, New
England Section, April 1975.
2 Klein, J. L., "A Rational Approach to Propeller Geometry," Pro-
pellers 75, SNAME T&R Symposium, July 1975.
3 Norton, J, A. and Elliott, J. W., Jr., "Current Practices and Future
Trends in Marine Propeller Design and Manufacture," SNAME, Cali-
fornia Sections Joint Spring Meeting, April 1987.

JULY 1989 209