Design and analysis of a grinding and polishing machine tool for blisks with multi-spindle circumferential array

Addressing the issues of low efficiency, poor consistency, and manual polishing in the finishing of aeroengine integral blisks, a multi-spindle circumferential array grinding and polishing machine tool was designed based on the structure and processing characteristics of the blisks, and a prototype was developed. The machine tool consists of multiple spindles arranged in a circumferential array to process multiple blades of a single blisk. Firstly, based on the layered design method, the machine tool structure was optimized to be 1T_w1R_w1T_t2R_t, which includes three rotary axes and two linear axes to achieve five-axis linkage functionality. The machine tool structure is more compact and conducive to achieving multi-spindle synchronous machining. Secondly, inverse kinematics analysis was conducted based on multi-body system dynamics theory and graphical method of mechanism, followed by kinematic simulation verification and workspace analysis. The comparison results of kinematic performance show that compared with the traditional machine tool rotary axis, the circumferential array machine tool has better motion performance. Finally, a prototype of the mechanism was built and processing experiments on blisk blade specimens were carried out. The results showed that the error range of the processed specimens was −0.03 to 0.03 mm, meeting the processing tolerance requirements for the blade surface, verifying the multi-spindle processing performance of the machine tool.