Machines Using Abrasive Tools: Grinding

Grinding

Grinding is an abrasive machining processes.

Can give a very high accuracy and surface finish.

Honing, lapping, abrasive

jet (air) machining, water-jet

machining etc. are other abrasive machining processes

The grinding wheel has a large number of abrasive particles

held together by a suitable matrix called bond.

When wheel rotates at high speed, thousands of cutting edges

simultaneously take part in material removal.

The resulting crisscross pattern is responsible for the excellent

surface finish.

Grinding

Reasons for higher specific cutting energy:

size effect: The chips will be fine powder. Therefore,
specific energy of grinding is higher than the other
machining processes.
Effective cutting edge geometry - Large negative rake
angle, Chip formation needs larger shear strains.
Wear lands: Blunt cutting edges and hence more
ploughing and sliding friction than machining.

Due to the high hardness of the abrasive particles, grinding is

the only process in many situations where none else works: eg.
Tool and cutter grinding; slitting concrete road.

Grinding Process

Grinding wheels common shapes

a) Cylindrical

b) Disc

c) Cup shape

Types of Grinding Operations

Based on the machine kinematics and the geometry of the
surface produced:
Cylindrical grinding
Lathe-like kinematics but more rigid and
accurate. These are used for making
Internal grinding
cylindrical features primarily.
Centerless grinding

Job is not held between centres but

floats.

Surface grinding

Milling machine-like kinematics. Primarily

for planar surfaces.

Tool and cutter grinding

Specially for tool and cutter grinding.

More number of slides as many as 7.

Profile grinding
For grinding special forms.
Special purpose grinding Cam shaft grinding machine, crank shaft

Horizontal Surface Grinder

Horizontal Surface Grinding

Types of Grinding Operations

Based on the machine kinematics and the geometry of the
surface produced:
Based on the method of traverse:

Traverse grinding

Plunge grinding

Traverse Grinding
MRR = f ap vtrav
Where,
f = cross feed per cutting
stroke
ap = back engagement
vtrav = traverse speed
tm = bw / (2 f nr)
nr = freq. of reciprocation
bw = width of work piece
Plunge Grinding

Sparking Out In Plunge Grinding

Wheel is fed normal to work surface Plunge grinding
Actual feed becomes less than feed f set on machine
This happens due to deflection of machine tool and work
piece both.
On completion of theoretical no. of strokes, some material still
remains to be removed
Grinding is continued without application of feed, till material
removal is negligible (no spark appears). Hence the name
Sparking out.
Machining time: tm = [at / (2f nr)] + ts
at = total depth of material to be removed
ts = sparking out time

Tool and Work holding in Surface Grinder

Tool Holding

Work Holding Magnetic chuck

Vertical Spindle Surface Grinder

MRR = f ap vtrav
ap = back engagement = width of work piece
Machining time: tm = [at / (2f nr)] + ts

Cylindrical Grinding

Cylindrical grinding machine is kinematically imilar to lathe.

MRR max f dw vtrav

Cylindrical Grinding Operations

Plain grinding by
traverse

Form grinding by
traverse

Plunge grinding

Taper grinding by
wheel tilt

Surface grinding by
table swivel

Face grinding

Taper grinding by
table tilt

Internal Grinding

Internal Grinding

Plain grinding by traverse

Plunge grinding

Taper grinding by wheel tilt

Face grinding

Taper grinding by table tilt

Centerless Grinding
Grinding wheel

Regulating wheel
Rotates slowly

Rest Blade
Infeed = (Dnr) sin

Center less Grinding

The job need not be held between centres or using

fixtures. It simply floats.

Ideal for mass production due to fast operation and ease

of handling.

The job is supported by a work rest blade. It is further

balanced by the grinding wheel and the regulating wheel.

The grinding wheel is generally huge for external grinding

and rotates at high speed.

Center less Grinding

The regulating wheel rotates at low speed and is tilted.

The regulating wheel controls

The rotation speed of work piece

Its infeed

Higher inclination and less speed of the regulating wheel

used for roughing and lower inclination and higher speed
used for finishing
Both internal and external cylindrical and conical surfaces
can be ground.

Infeed Control in Centerless Grinding

Internal Centerless Grinding

Advantages and Limitations of Grinding

Advantages

-Abrasives are harder than the

solid tools and inserts. Therefore,
they are used for working on very
hard materials.
-Grinding can give very high level
of accuracy and surface finish.
So this is often the only option
when high accuracy and surface
finish are required.
-Abrasives are less sensitive to
heat. So higher cutting speeds
are possible.
-The wheel can be dressed
several times.

Limitations

Very slow material removal.

Very inefficient process since
- High negative rake angle.
- High specific energy.
- Blunt edges and hence more
ploughing
- Lot of heat is generated. Can
create deformations, structural
changes in work piece.

Mechanism of Material Removal in Grinding

Large number of abrasive particles held together by bond. When

wheel rotates at high speed, thousands of cutting edges
simultaneously engage with the work piece.

It is a multipoint cutting tool like milling. However, all teeth are not of
same size, shape and orientation they are random.

Abrasives particles are mostly convex, the average rake angle in

grinding is highly negative, as much as -60. In other words, the
edge is not sharp.

There is more ploughing than cutting. Therefore, it has very low

shear angle and hence cutting forces are high even for very low
depth of cut. Furthermore, the tooth gap also is less. These are
reasons for its less MRR.

Material Removal in Grinding

Self-Sharpening and Wheel Filling Tendencies

Two conflicting effects are:
i.
Self-Sharpening: When the edges become dull, the high
cutting forces further increase. These forces either pull
out the dull edges (thus exposing new edges) or break
the grains (thus creating fresh edges). This is the selfsharpening characteristic of a grinding wheel. So it can
be continued to be used until the geometry of the wheel
goes beyond tolerance.
ii.

Wheel Filling: The opposite effect is the chips filling the

gaps between the grits making them ineffective. Wheel
becomes dull

Self-Sharpening Tendency and Wheel Hardness

Higher tendency for self-sharpening causes rapid wear

of the wheel and poor accuracy on the part; such a
wheel is called soft wheel (soft grains and soft
bonding).
Lower tendency for self-sharpening makes the wheel
dull and hence external sharpening called truing or
dressing by a diamond tool is required; such a wheel is
called hard wheel (tough grains and strong bonding).
The hardness of the grain and the force by which it is
held by the bond is critical to ensure optimal selfsharpening.

Self-Sharpening Tendency and Wheel Hardness

The hardness of the wheel depends on:

1. Grain material
2. grain size
3. bonding type
4. structure

Grinding Wheels: 1. Grain Types

Abrasive
Material

Knoop
Hardness

Remarks

Aluminum
oxide

20003000

Most commonly used in grinding.

Very brittle. Used for grinding all types of steels and
tough bronzes. Cheapest.

Silicon
carbide

21003000

Most commonly used in grinding.

Tougher than alumina. Used for grinding gray iron,
chilled iron, brass, soft bronze, aluminum, hard facing
alloys and cemented carbide.

Cubic boron
nitride

40005000

For tool grinding, ultrasonic machining etc. CBN is

replacing diamond increasingly as diamond is too
costly.

Diamond

70008000

For extremely hard materials (glass cutting, concrete

cutting, tool grinding, dressing & truing grinding
wheelsS etc.)

2. Grain Size

This influences surface finish and depth of cut smaller the

grains, better is surface finish but less depth of cuts too.

It also influences the relative hardness of the wheel smaller

the grains, harder is the wheel.

It is denoted by grit 20 grit grains can pass through a mesh

of 20 openings per inch.

3. Bond
Sl.
No.

Bond
type

1.

Vitrified bond

This is baked clay to glasslike consistency.

+ Strong and rigid.
+ Cheap.
-Brittle and hence cannot withstand shock loads.
Most common type of bond.

2.

Silicate bond

This is water glass, (i.e., sodium silicate) hardened by

baking.
+ Holds the grain loosely, hence makes the wheel soft.
+ Cheap.

3.

Shellac bond

This is shellac.
Used in grinding wheels employed in producing very
smooth finishes on hard surfaces.

Remarks

3. Bond
Sl.
No.
4.

Bond

Remarks

Resinoid This is thermosetting resin.

bond
+ Wide range of properties can be achieved by suitable mix
of the compounds.
+ Strong and fairly flexible.

Used for making large wheels.

5.

Rubber
bond

This is fairly hard vulcanized rubber.

+ Flexible and withstand good amount of shock.
Used for making thin flexible wheels particularly for cutting
and similar applications.

6.

Metallic
bond

This is metallic alloy, usually bronze. The wheel is obtained

by sintering the powder mix of bond matrix and abrasives.
+ Strong and tough to hold diamond or CBN grains. This is
the only bond used with diamond or CBN grains.
Used in tool and cutter grinding etc.
This is the only bonding suitable for electro-chemical
grinding which enhances productivity twice to thrice.

4. Structure

There are two types of structures:

i. Open:
It is a porous structure.
ii. Closed or Dense:
In this, the grains are tightly packed and the gap between
them is filled with the bond material.

The structure of a grinding wheel is the result of

i. Proportion of the bond and abrasive materials
ii. Porosity.
A wheel with an open structure provides for easier swarf
removal and tends to behave soft; on the other hand, the one
with closed structure will tend to clog with swarf and will
behave hard.
One can select a suitable structure between these two
extremes.

Designation of Grinding Wheels

Guideline for Selection of Grinding Wheel

1.

Abrasive material selection:

- Aluminum oxide for grinding steels
- Silicon carbide for grinding non-ferrous materials
- CBN or diamond for grinding very hard materials like tools

2.

Grain size selection:

- Large grit for ductile materials as well as for high MRR
- Small grit for hard materials as well as for high finish

3.

Bond selection:
- Resinoid, rubber or shellac bond for good finish
- Vitrified bond for high MRR
- Avoid vitrified bond for surface speeds higher than 32m/s

4.

Wheel hardness selection:

- Hard wheel for soft materials and vice versa.

Thermal Effects in Grinding

- Dimensional errors
- Burning
- Material structural
changes (hardening)
- Residual stresses
Surface cracks
These can be
controlled by:
- Wheel speed
- Work speed
- Infeed
- Wheel sharpness
- Depth of cut
- Coolant flow
- Force monitoring
using Adaptive
Control

Use of Coolant in Grinding

Type of coolant:
Neat oil is used where lubrication is required more than
cooling. Otherwise, water-soluble oil is used. The latter is
the most popular in grinding.

Coolant application:
- Flood cooling: most popular
- Coolant applied as a high pressure jet
- Coolant applied through the spindle: this is possible in
porous vitrified bond type of wheels.

Wear of Grinding Wheels

Grinding Ratio: The ratio of volume of material removed to

the wear volume of grinding wheel.

Grinding Ratio varies from 20:1 to 80: 1

The pattern of wear is similar to the wear of single point

cutting tool as shown in the next figure.
- The initial breakdown (Attritious wear)
- Uniform wear (Fracture wear)
- Rapid wear

Wear of Grinding Wheels

New Trends in Grinding

High Speed Grinding

It is possible to go up to 180 m/s. This is for increasing

MRR. This is used particularly for groove grinding and
grinding of difficult-to-machine materials where higher
MRR is preferred to higher finish.

The difficulties in HSG are:

High potential of bursting of the wheel due to high

centrifugal forces (owing to large diameter) and brittle
nature of the wheel.
Machine should have guards that contain the pieces in
case the wheel bursts.
Special segmented wheel design.

New Trends in Grinding

Creep Feed Grinding:

Single pass machining with full depth in one go but with very
low infeed. Although there is increase in grinding forces, wheel
stability is good.

Suitable for turbine blade root profiles and other hightemperature super alloys.

When this is applied to cylindrical grinding, it is known as deep

grinding. In this, the full depth is applied before the job starts
rotation. The operation is completed in a single rotation of the
work.

This requires a very rigid machine construction with a very

efficient grinding fluid application system.

New Trends in Grinding

Low Stress Grinding

By choosing appropriate grinding conditions, it

is possible to minimize the stresses. The
following conditions typically lead to low stress
levels:

Soft wheel
Open wheel
Low cutting speeds (< 18 m/s)
Low infeed rates (0.005 mm per pass)
Oil-based grinding fluid

Suitable for turbine blade root profiles and other

high-temperature super alloys.

New Trends in Grinding

Electro-Chemical Grinding:

About 90% of material removal is by electro-chemical etching

and remaining 10% by mechanical action of grinding.
Mechanical action also helps in quickly removing the particles
loosened by the electro-chemical action.

Metallic bonded wheels are used to have electrical conductivity.

The cutting fluid acts as the required electrolyte also. The work
piece need not be immersed in electrolyte as the rotation of
wheel ensures availability of adequate electrolyte.
Advantages are:

Less stresses and high quality surface free from

scratches
Very less wheel wear and hence high geometric
stability and less frequent dressing