Abstract: Traditional method of machining leading and trailing edge surface of turbine blades with a
flat-end cutter is to use the side edge of the cutter to cut the workpiece, by which the strip width will
be very narrow when the cutter traces along the tangential direction of blade cross-section curve,
because the cross-section curve′s curvature radius of leading and trailing edge surface is too small. By
studying on the factors influencing the machining strip width of convex surfaces, it was found that the
strip width will be wider if the bottom of flat-end cutter is used. A new flat-end cutter positioning
method using the bottom of the flat-end cutter to cut the leading and trailing edge surface is proposed
to maximize the strip width by optimizing the two cutter positioning parameters. Machining
simulation experiment on an aero-engine demonstrates the feasibility of this method in increasing the
strip width of leading and trailing edge surface.

Key words: flat-end cutter, leading and trailing edge surface, bottom of flat-end cutter, strip width