Analysis of the robotic disc grinding process

Two major aspects of the robotic rigid disc grinding process, namely, disc wear and grinding forces have been examined in the present study. The disc wear is observed to be nonuniform, being greatest at the outer edge of the disc. A simple wear model has been developed by assuming that the amount of wear can be approximated as having a triangular cross section. The dynamic grinding force model developed includes the effects of disc wear and nonlinear stiffness of the robot system. Experiments have been conducted on an actual robotic grinding system to verify the validity of these system models. Several practical issues which should be considered during robotic grinding are discussed.