Robotic grinding and polishing for turbine-vane overhaul

A robotic grinding and polishing system was used to automate the manual operation of turbine-vane overhaul. In the system a passive compliance tool combined with an adaptive path planning approach was adopted to overcome intrinsic problems arising from part-to-part geometry variations. The system is believed to be the first of its kind in the world for turbine-vane repair. This paper focuses on the development of the passive compliance tool (PCT) with passive force control and adaptive path generation. Tool wear compensation and process optimization were also explored in order to meet stringent quality requirements.