Abstract: The complex curvature of blade profile and weak machining rigidity of thin-wall structure make it difficult to plan trajectory of grinding tools under the condition of variable contact state, resulting in poor machining consistency accordingly. In order to realize the optimization of blade grinding process, the contact characteristics and material removal mechanism of blade abrasive disc grinding process are studied on the basis of blade grinding characteristics. Firstly, the theoretical model of material removal rate is established based on method of dimensionality reduction. The influence of different process parameters on normal contact pressure distribution, equivalent contact force, contact area, deformation of contact wheel and material removal depth are revealed by means of simulation and experiments. The research results show that there is a negative correlation between inclination angle and normal pressure or contact area, and a positive correlation between inclination angle and maximum deformation of contact wheel. Increasing the inclination angle from 10° to 30° essentially makes abrasive tool sharper. Consequently, the maximum material removal depth increases by about 59.78%, and the effective grinding area is significantly reduced. With the increase of grinding depth from 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm, the normal contact pressure, contact area, contact wheel deformation and effective grinding area increase significantly. And the maximum material removal depth increases by 1.57 times to 0.188 mm. Inclination angle and grinding depth are the main factors affecting material removal rate in abrasive disc grinding, which play an important role in obtaining high quality surface and realizing real-time control of grinding process.

Key words: aero-engine blade, abrasive disc grinding, contact characteristics, material removal rate