Simulation and intelligent control during grinding process for difficult-to-machine materials in aerospace

Abstract

The difficult-to-machine materials (e.g. titanium alloys, superalloys, intermetallics and high-strength steels, etc) have attracted increasing attentions in manufacturing the key components in aerospace fields in recent years, resulting from their superior mechanical properties. Grinding, as the final machining method, has been employed to fabricate those materials and the associated key components, playing an important influence in the manufacturing quality and efficiency. However, there are problems such as large grinding force and temperature, severe wear of wheels, and poor grinding quality, owing to the difficult machining property of those materials and the complexity of grinding processes. This paper summarized the research progresses and existed problems in view of the grinding force, the grinding temperature, the wheel wear and the ground surface quality. The research object was the difficult-to-machine materials in aerospace fields and the main discussion topics focused on the simulation during grinding processes and intelligent control techniques. Finally, the future development trends of grinding process simulation and intelligent control technology were prospected regarding the main problems existing in current researches.

Keywords

• grinding
• intelligent control
• tool wear
• surface integrity