Research and development of multi-axis CNC abrasive belt-grinding machine postprocessor

Multi-axis CNC abrasive belt-grinding machine is an essential piece of equipment for processing the turbofan engine fan blades. The quality of blades determines whether engine performance can be further improved. As one of the important means to ensure blade quality, the measurement of the blade is still in the stage of manually hand-held measurement, and it is urgent to introduce digital and intelligent means to improve this situation. In order to make the overall process of blade grinding and measurement digital and intelligent and make the CNC belt-grinding machine integrated into the intelligent manufacturing system, its core is to upgrade the grinding machine by installing intelligent devices for the grinding machine. The primary premise of the upgrade is to reconstruct the post-processing system of the machine tool. Therefore, this article established a multi-axis CNC abrasive belt-grinding machine’s precise geometry assembly model, developed the post-process module based on the machine kinematic chain, established and validated a virtual grinding machine virtual simulation environment, and completed the experimental verification with a specific type of wide string hollow fan blade. The experimental results show the correctness and effectiveness of the post-processing module and the virtual simulation environment. The work of this paper provides an essential platform for the subsequent upgrade of the grinder and the installation of an in-machine measurement system.