A review of recent advances in robotic belt grinding of superalloys

Superalloys are widely used in aerospace and energy fields by virtue of superior physical properties, especially in high-temperature environments. However, superalloys have poor machinability and are typical difficult-to-machine materials. Robotic belt grinding is an effective and popular method for finish machining superalloys, offering significant advantages such as high material removal capacity, low heat input, and fewer workpiece damages. Moreover, robots can be well integrated with multi sensors, such as infrared radiation cameras, force sensors, microphones, and high-speed cameras. These sensors help to realize real-time monitoring of grinding processes, thus benefiting the grinding quality control. Despite many developments in recent decades, there is a lack of comprehensive review of robotic belt grinding of superalloys, particularly advanced techniques and methods to achieve precision profile finishing and desired properties. Therefore, after introducing a typical intelligent robotic grinding system, this paper reviews five important aspects that need further research for robotic belt grinding of superalloys: typical tools and grinding parameters selection, surface integrity analysis and control, tool condition motoring, material removal, and finishing control, as well as the force distribution and thermal analysis. The typical applications, potentials, and limitations are also introduced. As an emerging technology, artificial intelligence (AI) is imperative to realize intelligent robotic belt grinding. Hence, this paper pays more attention on AI-based models of grinding processes.