2134/35243 Khaled Elgeneidy Khaled Elgeneidy Ali Al-Yacoub Ali Al-Yacoub Zahid Usman Zahid Usman Niels Lohse Niels Lohse Michael R. Jackson Michael R. Jackson Iain Wright Iain Wright Towards an automated masking process: a model-based approach Loughborough University 2018 Masking Control Modelling Automation Time-pressure dispensing Manufacturing Mechanical Engineering not elsewhere classified Mechanical Engineering 2018-10-09 10:07:10 Journal contribution https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Towards_an_automated_masking_process_a_model-based_approach/9568070 The masking of aircraft engine parts, such as turbine blades, is a major bottleneck for the aerospace industry. The process is often carried out manually in multiple stages of coating and curing, which requires extensive time and introduces variations in the masking quality. This paper investigates the automation of the masking process utilising the wellestablished time-pressure (T/P) dispensing process for controlled maskant dispensing, and a robotic manipulator for accurate part handling. A mathematical model for the T/P dispensing process was derived, extending previous models from the literature by incorporating the robot velocity for controlled masking line width. An experiment was designed, based on the theoretical analysis of the dispensing process, to derive an empirical model from the generated data that incorporates the losses that are otherwise difficult to model mathematically. The model was validated under new input conditions to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach and the masking accuracy using the derived model.