Abstract: Focusing on the unconstrained two-dimensional guillotine cutting problem of rectangular blanks,a recursive algorithm is proposed to planning each T-shape cutting pattern,where a horizontal or a vertical cut divides the stock sheet into two segments,while each segment consists of horizontal strips or vertical strips alone.Each time the recursive algorithm determines the optimal position of the cut that divides the sheet metal into segments and the optimal combination of strips in each segment to make the material usage reach its maximum.A large number of randomly generated problems indicate that the algorithm is efficient both in material usage and in computation time.