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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter was discussed about overall work flow progress of the project
including the flow of experiment done using appropriate apparatus, the information
about the material had been used, designing of the experiment, the experiment set up
which is involving machining process, and also the method that had been used to
interpret the data collected.

The title of this project is Prediction of Grinding Machanability when Grind

Haynes 242 by using Water-based coolant. There are several parameters that had to be
consider when handling the grinding process which are type of wheel, feed rate, wheel
speed, depth of cut, type of coolant and moreover. All the parameters that involve are
important thing in the process in order to get a better quality of the product in every
single of criteria. However, due to the machine condition in the lab, we had decided that
wheel speed and feed rate to constant in this project.

Apart from that, the appropriate apparatus and the experiment set up was well
prepared in order to have a smooth handling during grinding process so that the
objective of the project is achieve successfully. Therefore, the data collection will be
analyze clearly and interpret it using a suitable way to evaluate and compare it with the
previous research.
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3.2 EXPERIMENT SETUP

3.2.1 Precision Surface Grinding Machine (STP-1022ADCII)

In this project, the Precision Surface Grinding Machine (STP-1022ADCII) was

been used as in figure 3.1 and figure 3.2. Surface grinding machines and processes are
process where first developed to manufacture with very high accuracy, tight tolerances,
smooth surface super finishes, and removing material from a very hard materials.

Figure 3.1: Precision Surface Grinding Machine

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Figure 3.2: Horizontal-spindle reciprocating table surface grinding

Source: Mechanical Laboratory of Universiti Malaysia Pahang

3.2.2 Grinding Wheel

The most typical materials for the grinding wheel that have been used in
mechanical laboratory of University Malaysia Pahang are Al2O3 (figure 3.3) and SiC
(figure 3.4). The material of Al2O3 is not so hard and fragile as SiC. It is suitable for
grinding the metals with high anti-tensile strength such as softer metal, forge iron and
bronze. For the SiC, the crystals are very fragile. Regarding to this kind of property, it is
suitable for grinding the metals with high anti-tensile strength too such as steel, marble
and glass.

3.2.2.1 The Grinding wheel selection

When selecting a grinding wheel, there are several factors that had been
considered to conduct the experiment where we use the ISO standard for grinding
selection. The wheel specifications are:

1) The wheel diameter

2) The type of abrasive in the wheel
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3) The abrasive grain size

4) The grit size
5) The wheel hardness
6) The wheel structure
7) The bond type

Figure 3.3: Silicon carbide wheel

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Figure 3.4: Aluminium Oxide wheel

Source: Mechanical Laboratory of Universiti Malaysia Pahang

3.2.2.2 The dressing of the grinding wheel

For a correct grinding process course it is necessary to adjust a shape and

topography of the working wheel layer to the task given. Dressing may be defined as
any operation performed on a wheel face to change the nature of its cutting action. The
most important purpose of dressing is to remove the dull abrasive grains from the
cutting face or to strip off a loaded or glazed face. Grinding wheels wear unevenly
under most general grinding operations due to uneven pressure applied to the face of the
wheel when it cuts. When the proper wheel has not been used for certain operations, the
wheel may become charged with metal particles, or the abrasive grain may become dull
before it is broken loose from the wheel bond. In these cases, it is necessary that the
wheel to be dressed or trued to restore its efficiency and accuracy. Cutting the face of a
grinding wheel, means we restore its original cutting qualities. Truing is restoring the
wheel’s concentricity or reforming its cutting face to a desired shape. Both operations
are performed with a tool called an abrasive wheel dresser. During the experiment, the
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dressing process was performed to the wheel in each stage of grinding process by using
diamond wheel dresser in figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5: Diamond wheel dresser

Source: Mechanical Laboratory of Universiti Malaysia Pahang

3.2.3 Water Based Coolant

Most grinding machines are equipped with coolant systems. In my final year
project 1, the water based coolant had been used which is figure 3.6. The water based
coolant mixture contains 60% of water and 40% ethylene glycol. The coolant was
installed to the machine as in figure 3.7 and is directed over the point of contact
between the grinding wheel and the work. This prevents distortion of the workpiece due
to uneven temperatures caused by the cutting action. In addition, coolant keeps the chips
washed away from the grinding wheel and point of contact, thus permitting free cutting.
Clear water may be used as a coolant, but various compounds containing alkali are
usually added to improve its lubricating quality and prevent rusting of the machine and
workpiece. For grinding aluminum and its alloys, a clear water coolant will produce
fairly good results.
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Figure 3.6: Water based coolant

Figure 3.7: The installation of the water based coolant

Source: Mechanical Laboratory of Universiti Malaysia Pahang

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3.2.4 Surface Roughness Tester (using Mahr Perthometer S2)

The Perthometer S2 that had been used in my final year project 1 is

characterized by a multitude of function. An automatic function of this equipment
enables periodic profiles to be identified and the cut off to be set according to standards
without any previous test measurement, such that unintentional non-standard
measurements are excluded. The distance that the stylus travels is called the cut off,
which generally ranges from 1.75 mm to 17.5mm. The most important this is the
parameter describing surface integrity is surface roughness which is average surface
roughness (Ra). Surface roughness is generally measured in terms of arithmetic mean
(Ra in µm) which is according to ISO 4987:1999 is defined as the arithmetic average
roughness of the deviations of the roughness profile from the central line along the
measurement. Ra is determined from the roughness profile while Rz and Rmax are
analyzed from the unfiltered profile. In this project, MAHR PERTHOMETER S2
machine is used to get the result which had shown in figure 3.8. This Non-contact
instruments measure surface texture by optically scanning a surface with a light or laser.
Figure 3.9shows, the stylus of Perthometer S2 is loaded on the surface to be measured
and then moved across the surface at a constant velocity to obtain surface height
variation (Boubekri et al, 1992). In order to highlight the roughness, the Perthometer S2
traces are recorded on an exaggerated vertical scale that is a few order of magnitude
larger then horizontal scale. The magnitude of the scale is called gain on the recording
instrument. Thus the recorded profile is distorted significantly, and the surface appears
to be much rougher than it actual is. The recording instrument compensates for any
surface waviness. In the manufacturing industry, surface must be within certain limits of
roughness. Therefore, measuring surface roughness is vital to quality control of
machining workpiece. The measurement of surface roughness using Perthometer S2 for
each specimen is tabulated and the value of Average of Ra, will be keyed in later in the
response columns during DOE analyzing, surface line profile, as well as three-
dimensional.
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Figure 3.8: Mahr perthometer S2

Figure 3.9: Mechanism of surface roughness measurement

Source: Mechanical Laboratory of Universiti Malaysia Pahang

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3.2.5 Workpiece

The material that had been used as workpiece in this project is Haynes 242 alloy.
HAYNES 242 alloy is an age-hardenable nickel-molybdenum-chromium superalloy
that derives its good mechanical properties from a fine dispersion of metastable
Ni2(Mo,Cr) ordered body centered orthorhombic (Pt2Mo-type) domains/precipitates in
a face centered cubic γ matrix. The property of the alloy is high strength and resistance
to corrosion which are critical considerations in the selection of materials for plastics
production and processing equipment. It strength is twice the strength of traditional
HASTELLOY alloy up to 100°F (650°C). Figure 3.10 show the workpiece is prepared
in the form of 20mm thickness, 175mm length and 107mm width. It has yield strength
about 200ksi (1380Mpa), 9.06g/cm³ of density, reach the electrical resistance up to
122.0µohm. In addition, the dynamic modulus elastic of the material is 229 Gpa and
have a good thermal conductivity.

Figure 3.10: Haynes 242 alloy

Source: Mechanical Laboratory of Universiti Malaysia Pahang

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3.3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The experiments set up was begin with the surface grinding machine. The
machine was ensured that there is no systematic error and was in good condition
whether it is to be control manually or automatically. The crucial part that was need to
be observe is the emergency button was well functioned during the grinding process.
The control panel which is control the accuracy of feed rate at the x, y and z-axis was
ensured so that it will give the good accuracy of the experiments. The material that was
used in this project is Haynes 242 which 175mm in length and 107mm in width with
thickness of 2mm. The material is a non-magnetic to the table of the machine resulting
it moves randomly on the table speed. The magnetic vice was used to clamp the
workpiece to make sure it was stick and does not even an inch during the grinding
process. Since the workpiece had a quite long dimensions in the length, two vice was
use to support the workpiece on the flat surface on the table speed. The vice was locked
tightly until the workpiece cannot move at all.

The workpiece now ready to under goes into the grinding process using the SiC
wheel with the constant table speed which is 200rpm. The table speed was measured by
using the tachometer in the laboratory. First stage of the experiment is wanted to flat the
original surface so that the good results obtained. The new flat surface was obtained and
the value of Ra before the actual grinding process was measured using Mahr
Perthometer S2 equipment. It is used to measure the surface roughness of the material.
All the data was collected and placed in the table properly. The reading was taken about
three times to make sure the accuracy of the data that was collected.

When the value of Ra before was taken, the real experiment was run by setting
the value of the depth of cut which is 5µm. However, the dressing operation of the
wheel was done before the real experiments and the wheel starts to grind the surface of
the workpiece. The operation was done by using a diamond dresser. After the dressing
operation was done, the diameter of the wheel before its grind was taken by using the
vernier caliper in tha laboratory. A single pass process was taken place where the
Haynes 242 was grinds only one passes through surface with the addition of the water
based coolant during the processes. Once it is finished grinds, the workpiece was
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bringing to the metrology laboratory to measure it new surface roughness using Mahr
Perthometer S2. This is the new value of Ra where it was taken after the grinding
processes were done. The diameter of the wheel after the grinding process also taken
and was tabled.

Flatting the new surface of the material had been done after for every single-
pass grinding process. The value of Ra of the material after the flatting process will be
taken again. A value of Ra now, becomes the value or Ra before the grinding process
with 7 µm of the depth of cut. The experiment were continued and was repeated using
different value depth of cut which are 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 µm. The experiments
were conducted repeatedly using another wheel which is Al2O3 wheel. After two set of
experiment had been done, the experiment is continued by using multi-pass grinding
process with the same procedure as single-pass grinding process. All the data was
recorded and calculated where it is ready to be analyzes by the neural network analysis.

3.4 ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN)

Networks with biases can represent relationships between inputs and outputs
more easily than networks without biases. A transfer function, consisting generally of
algebraic equations, may be linear or non-linear. The most basic and commonly used
ANN is the multi-layer perception (MLP). This consists of at least three or more layers,
an input layer, an output layer, and a number of hidden layers.

In this project, Levenberg-Marquadt was used which is one of the training

algorithms. To develop an ANN model, the network is processed through two stages,
which are training or learning stage and testing or validation stage. In the training stage,
the network is trained to predict an output based on input data. In the testing stage, the
network is tested to stop or continue training it, and it is used to predict an output. It is
also used to calculate different measures of error. The network training process is
stopped when the testing error is within the tolerance limits.
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Figure 3.11: The architecture of ANN

The experimental data set consist of nine values. The ANN model was trained
using 7 randomly selected data, accounting for 70% of the total data while the
remaining two data accounting for 15% for each, was utilized for testing of the network
performance. An Architecture design as figure 3.11 was done which are including three
elements, an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer network. There is one input
in the input layer, namely depth of cut. The output is the surface roughness and wheel
wear produced. But since the analysis was using the Levenberg-Marquadt training
algorithm, which the summation of the square error testing, it cannot analyzed the wheel
wear produced due to the smallest value obtained which it is not significance. Thus, the
analysis will concentrate only on the surface roughness as the output analysis.
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Figure 3.12: A regression line by neural network analysis

Target Output AE ARE

Mean: 0.616111 0.610229 0.015994 0.025597

Std Dev: 0.355798 0.344259 0.015533 0.02406

Min: 0.35 0.365289 0.000082 0.000222

Max: 1.45 1.426504 0.052015 0.076046

Correlation: 0.999133

R-Squared: 0.999093

Table 3.1: Summary of the neural network analysis

Source: Artificial Neural Network software

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In this study, the ANN model is developed for predicting the value of surface
roughness with less error occur which indicate with the correlation coefficient and
coefficient of determination. To evaluate theaccuracy of the ANN predictions, each
graph is provided with a straight line indicating the perfect prediction. Each graph is
provided with a accuracy of the ANN predictions. Each graph are also is provided with
a positive line indicating the perfect predictions. The performance of the ANN
prediction was evaluated by a regression analysis between the predicted and the
experiment value as shown in figure 3.12 above. The comparisons were made using
only the values from the test data set, which was not introduced to the network during
the training process and was selected randomly from experimentally obtained data set.
Figure 3.11 shows a regression lines indicates if there is no linear relationship between
the variables or only a weak relationship, r will be close to 0. From the table 3.1 above,
the correlation coefficient is nearly to the 1. It is mean it has a strong positive
relationship between the variables.It is a statistical method used to measure two or more
variables are related and to determine whether a relationship between variables exists
and how strong is the linear relationship between the variables. The stronger the
relationship between variables, the more accurate the prediction is.