Improved Landing Gear Grinding/Finishing Methods on Hard Wear Resistant Surfaces

During routine overhaul of aircraft components multiple types of substrates and surface finishes are ground on the same grinders requiring the usage of both diamond and aluminum oxide type wheels. In addition, both wheel types involve the risk of grinding burns to steel substrates during rework. This effort will develop and implement belt grinding processing which reduces time to swap from diamond belts to aluminum oxide belts to grind multiple substrates and surface finishes; and reduces the risk of burns to the base metal. The Phase I effort proved that belt grinding technology successfully removed WC-Co, WC-Co-Cr HVOF coatings and Chrome plating without causing grinding burns to the substrate material. Phase II successfully proved that the belt grinding technology can be used for grinding bare steel, Cr plated and HVOF WC-Co HSS landing gear components at a 60% greater rate than conventional grinding without producing grinding burns. Leveraging the success of these efforts, this joint USAF/USN Phase II.5 effort will focus on the technology transition of the belt grinding process into the depots at Robins AFB and FRCSE by retrofitting existing grinders, development and demonstration/validation testing, personnel training, updating grinding specifications and technical data, and training of personnel.