Technology Spotlight: Automated Deburring Comes of Age

The edge finishing process is an important step in the creation of critical gas turbine components. And, from a purely business perspective, it makes sense to replace manual operations with automated ones to reduce worker injuries and abrasive consumption, while improving quality and consistency by eliminating human subjectivity.

Where automation and deburring meet is equipment from AV&R Aerospace, Montreal, which has developed robotic deburring technology that comprises a robot, tooling, and measurement feedback system to inspect the part, compare it to the CAD model, and then apply calculations to generate the optimal toolpath.

“The factors that are driving the need for robotic deburring include the high levels of tolerance that the system can reach, the high precision and quality of manufactured parts, the repeatability of action that the robotic cell can achieve, and, finally, the health and security of employees that don’t do manual work anymore,” explained AV&R Sales and Marketing Director Michael Muldoon.

In recent years the precision of these systems has improved thanks to the development of force-sensing feedback, which enables the robot to perform self-calibration. And, according to Muldoon, it is new blue laser technology and better filtering algorithms that are the basis of this improvement.

The feedback system ensures the proper amount of material is removed and enables closed-loop machining. It also guarantees that the system doesn’t remove parent material. By using laser or vision feedback devices, the system is able to detect the part’s edges.

The necessary finishes are created using the combination of the correct abrasive with the proper force, feed, and time.

No material removal can take place without end-of-arm tooling, however.

“End-of-arm tooling needs to hold the part firmly to allow no movement during the finishing processes,” said Muldoon. “But it does not necessarily have to be precise or repeatable because the calibration process already guarantees that.”

Automated deburring systems also are flexible enough to deburr multiple parts, but working on the same family of parts is more efficient.

A single system can also deburr a part that has both flat surfaces and cavities, but the system needs to have the proper access for the appropriate tooling.

“The reality of the industry is that much of the simple low-cost automation has already been done. We are now targeting applications that were perceived as impossible to automate a few years ago,” said Muldoon.

www.avr-aerospace.com