Grinding Operations and Finishing Micro Milling: Competitive Manufacturing Processes (MCEN 3003)
Grinding Operations and Finishing Micro Milling: Competitive Manufacturing Processes (MCEN 3003)
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(a) external dia. (b) tapered grinding (c) form grinding (d) thread grinding (e) internal taper grinding (f) Slot grinding (g) internal cylindrical grinding
Types of grinding
Cylindrical Grinding
Types of grinding
Cylindrical Grinding
Can also produce shapes in which the wheel is dressed to the workpiece form to be
ground.
Non-cylindrical parts can be ground on rotating workpieces
Workpiece spindle speed is synchronized between the workpiece and the wheel axis
Thread grinding is done on cylindrical grinders using specially dressed wheels matching the
thread shape.
Types of grinding
Cylindrical Grinding
Cycle patterns for a CNC precision grinder
Types of grinding
Internal grinding
A small wheel is used to grind the inside diameter of the part.
Internal profiles are ground with profile-dressed wheels that move radially into the workpiece.
Centerless grinding
https://www.chris-marine.com/product/grinding-wheels/
Grinding wheel
A grinding wheel regarded as a multipoint cutting tool essentially consists of a large number
of abrasive particles, called grains, held together by a suitable agent called the bond
The cutting action similar to that of a milling cutter except that the cutting points are irregularly
shaped and randomly distributed over the active face of the wheel.
Those grains at the surface of the wheel that perform the cutting operation are called active
grains. In peripheral grinding, each active grain removes a short chip of gradually increasing
thickness in a way that is similar to the action of a tooth on a slab-milling cutter.
Each active grain is a small cutting tool with a large negative rake angle (-60 deg or larger)
and this results in very low values for the shear angle during the removal of each chip.
Grinding wheel
Because of the irregular shape of the grains, there is considerable plowing action between each active
grain and the new work surface.
(a) The plowing action results in progressive wear, causing the formation of worn areas on the active
grains which increase the interference or friction, resulting in an in crease in the force on the grain.
(b) Eventually this force becomes large enough either to tear the worn grain from the bond of the wheel
and thus expose a new unworn grain or to fracture the worn grain to produce new cutting edges.
Thus, a grinding wheel has a self-sharpening characteristic, and the force a grain can withstand
before being torn from the wheel or fractured is a most important factor when grinding-wheel
performance is considered.
A wheel consisting of relatively tough grains strongly bonded together will only exhibit the self-
sharpening characteristic to a small degree and will quickly develop a glazed appearance during
grinding. This glazed appearance is caused by the relatively large worn areas that develop on the active
grains.
(a) These worn areas result in excessive friction and the consequent overheating of the workpiece.
Grinding under these conditions is inefficient and necessitates "dressing" the wheel at frequent
intervals to remove worn grains from the wheel surface.
(b) Dressing is usually carried out by passing a diamond-tipped dressing tool across the wheel surface
while the wheel rotates. Dressing with a diamond-tipped tool removes or fractures the worn grains at
the wheel periphery, thus generating a new and sharpened cutting surface. The need for frequent
dressing to remove worn grains characterizes a hard wheel.
Grinding wheel
The grains in a soft wheel torn out of the structure or fracture very rapidly during grinding
where the volume of wheel removed becomes significant compared to the volume of metal
removed.
(a) The wheel will rapidly lose its shape and dressing will soon be necessary.
(b) Rapid fracturing represents inefficient grinding conditions, and thus the object in selecting
a wheel for a particular operation is to achieve a compromise between the two extremes
just described for hard and soft wheels.
(c) Several factors combine to determine whether a wheel behaves hard or soft, and some of
these factors are:
Grain type
Grain size
Bond
Structure and
Designation of grinding wheel
Grain Type
Grinding wheel
The hardest type of grain used in grinding wheels is diamond, and naturally this type of grain is used for
grinding very hard materials, such as cemented carbides.
This is followed by cubic boron nitride (CBN), which has now taken over some of the applications for
which diamond was previously used.
Grains of silicon carbide or aluminum oxide are more commonly used in the manufacture of general
purpose grinding wheels.
Silicon carbide grains are the tougher of the two types, a property that makes them more efficient
abrasives when used in such grinding materials as the hard cast irons. On the other hand, silicon
carbide grains dull more rapidly than aluminum oxide grains when used in grinding steels.
The general rule is to select aluminum oxide for surface grinding of steels of all kinds, including the hard
stainless steels, annealed malleable iron, and tough bronzes and to select silicon carbide for surface
grinding of gray iron, chilled iron, brass, soft bronze, aluminum, hard facing alloys, and the cemented
carbides.
Grain Size
Grain size is determined mainly by the surface-finish requirement: the smaller the grain, the smoother
the surface obtained. The grain size may also affect the relative hardness of the wheel. The size of grain
is designated by the mesh of the screen through which it just passes. Thus, a grain of 20 grit passes
through a mesh of 20 openings per inch. Grains are sorted into various sizes by a mechanical sifting
machine.
Grinding wheel
Bonding
Six principal types of bond are used for grinding wheels: vitrified, silicate, resinoid, rubber, shellac, and
metallic.
Vitrified bond is a clay melted to a glasslike consistency. It is strong and rigid and is the most common
type of bond used for grinding wheels.
Silicate bond is essentially water glass, (sodium silicate) hardened by baking. It holds the grains more
loosely than a vitrified bond, and therefore the wheel behaves softer.
Resinoid bond is a thermosetting resin. A wide range of properties can be obtained by different mixes
of the compound. It is strong but fairly flexible and is sometimes used for manufacturing large grinding
wheels.
Rubber bond consists of fairly hard vulcanized rubber. It can be used for the manufacture of thin, flex-
ible wheels, used particularly for cutoff machines and similar applications.
Shellac bond is an organic bond used for grinding wheels employed in producing very smooth finishes
on hard surfaces.
Metallic bond is used for grinding wheels with diamond or CBN grains and cannot be dressed in the
usual way. Metallic-bonded wheels are produced by sintering compacted mixtures of the grains and
metallic powders, usually of bronze.
Grinding wheel
Structure
The structure of a wheel is determined by the proportion and arrangement of the abrasive grains and
bond.
Some wheels have an open (porous) structure, while others have more tightly packed grains with the
spaces between grains filled with the bonding material; this is known as a closed structure.
A wheel with an open structure provides for easier swarf, or chip, removal but will tend-to behave soft;
on the other hand, a wheel with a closed structure will tend to clog with swarf and will behave hard.
Designation of Grinding Wheels
In general, the following guidelines can be used for the selection of a grinding wheel:
(a) Aluminum oxide for steels and silicon carbide for carbides and nonferrous metals.
(b) Hard-grade-wheel for soft materials and a soft-grade wheel for hard materials.
(c) Large grit for-soft and ductile materials and a small grit for hard and brittle materials.
(d) Small grit for a good finish and a large grit for a maximum metal removal rate.
(e) Resinoid, rubber, or shellac bond for a good finish and a vitrified bond for a maximum metal removal
rate.
(f) Vitrified bond is not suitable for surface speeds greater than 32 m/s.
Grinding wheel
Designation of Grinding Wheels
The ISO standard marking system for grinding wheels. It can be seen that the grinding-wheel code
consists of seven alphanumeric symbols referring to type of abrasive, nature of abrasive, grain size,
wheel grade (relative hardness); structure, nature of bond, and finally a manufacturer's record.
Effect of grinding conditions on wheel behavior
It has been seen that wheels of different types manufactured from different types of grain behave in
different ways, and the choice of wheel type will depend on the material to be ground, the surface finish
required, and the metal removal rate. However, grinding conditions also play important part in
determining whether a wheel will behave hard or soft
The figure shows the approximate shape of the layer of material removed by a single grain during
plunge grinding. The average length of a chip lc during grinding is given approximately by
where ac max is the maximum undeformed chip thickness and aw max is the maximum
width of the chip and can be expressed by
Chip cross section
where rg is the grain-aspect ratio.
(a) Rolle grinding wheel over a glass plate covered with a layer of carbon black. The
resulting picture is enlarged photographically and Cg is determined by counting the marks
per unit area.
(b) Employ a thermocouple on the surface of the workpiece. The thermocouple wire is
insulated. As each active grain passes, a thermocouple junction is formed between the
wire and the workpiece, and a pulse is obtained from the high temperature developed
The pulses are displayed on an oscilloscope screen and counted.
(c) The surface of the grinding wheel is viewed on a projection microscope and the number
of cutting points passing a line on the projection screen was counted as the wheel was
rotated a given amount.
Testing of grinding wheels
An important factor in determining the characteristics of a grinding wheel is the force required
to break the bond between grains.
Much effort has been made to devise a method that will determine bond forces so that the
operating performance of a grinding wheel may be predicted.
A typical method is to pass a sintered-metal carbide or diamond chisel over the wheel surface
in such a way that it tears a layer of grains from the bond.
The forces required to separate a layer of grains from the bond are taken as a measure of the
strength of the bond, thus giving a guide to the behaviour of the wheel in practice.
Analysis of the grinding process
The stiffness of the wheel-support system in the infeed direction is represented by a spring of
stiffness St, the stiffness of the work support system by a spring of stiffness Sw, and finally the
stiffness of the wheel and work are designated by Si.
.
The radius of the wheel is being
reduced at a rate dt/2, and the
.
radius of the workpiece is being
reduced at a rate dw/2 or vf .
For an easy-to-grind material the ratio ∧w / ∧t , referred to as the grinding ratio, would be on
the order of 50; therefore, under steady-state conditions feed speed vf approaches the
machine infeed speed vi quite closely.
However, for a difficult-to-grind material the grinding ratio can be on the order of 3.0, and
above equation must be used to estimate the actual feed speed.
Specific cutting energy for grinding processes
The total specific energy during cutting can be divided into three elements as follows:
(a) Energy used in chip formation
(b) Energy used in plastic deformation without cutting, that is, plowing
(c) Energy expended in sliding friction, in particular on worn areas on the active grains.
The specific cutting energy for grinding is higher than for single-point cutting for several
reasons, including the following:
The size effect: the chips produced by the active cutting edges are very small, and it is well
known that during deformation small pieces of material have proportionately greater strength
than larger ones. Hence the specific cutting energy for chip formation will be larger.
Effective cutting edge geometry: the active grains have large negative rake angles and the
chip formation involves large shear strains. The energy of plastic deformation is higher than
for other cutting processes.
Wear lands: the size of the worn areas on the active grains is much larger proportionately
than for single-point cutting. Consequently, the specific energy expended in sliding friction
and plowing is greater.
Thermal effects in grinding
The high cutting speeds in grinding result in temperatures at the grain tip that may be as high as
l700°C. As a result some of the chips may melt during formation.
60 to 90 percent of the total energy consumed in grinding flows instantaneously into the
workpiece, causing rapid local increases in temperature.
Increasing the specific metal removal rate reduces the proportion of total energy flowing into the
workpiece, and dulling of the wheel increases this value.
The proportion of the total energy flowing into the workpiece E has been expressed as:
where Ag is the relative contact area of the grains expressed as a percentage, ranging from 0
to 5 percent. The value of Ag increases as the wheel becomes less sharp.
Thermal effects in grinding
Cutting fluids in grinding
For general-purpose grinding, oil-and-water emulsions are used, with the lubricating
properties regulated by adjusting the relative proportions of oil and water in the mixture.
Several different methods for applying grinding fluids are used. Internal grinding is the most
difficult type of grinding operation in which to obtain an adequate supply of fluid, mainly owing
to the restricted access to the grinding zone and the greater work-wheel conformity.
Flooding is the most common fluid application technique used. A large volume of fluid is
applied at low pressure, and this generally gives acceptable results for conventional surface
grinding.
In jet application, high-pressure jets of fluid are applied through nozzles close to the wheel
and workpiece in the direction of wheel rotation. It is generally assumed that the high-
pressure jets are required to penetrate the air cushion on the wheel surface. However, the
fluid velocity is also high and approaches the wheel speed, so that formation of a laminar
stream on the wheel thus dragging fluid into the grinding zone is more likely to occur.
Cutting fluids in grinding
Grinding wheels, particularly those with vitrified bonds, are porous and fluid can be applied
through the wheel into the grinding zone. The fluid is normally applied through the spindle or
by means of cupped flanges on the sides of the wheel. The method can be used in
combination with flooding, with a neat oil applied through the wheel, to reduce friction in the
grinding zone, and an oil-water emulsion applied externally, mainly to provide cooling.
Chamber-type or air-deflector flood nozzles are being used increasingly for the low-pressure
application of grinding fluids on surface grinding machines, high-speed grinding machines,
and other types of cylindrical grinding machines. Two alternative mechanisms for the
effectiveness of chamber-type nozzles have been proposed.
(a) One explanation is that the air deflector removes the air cushion from the wheel and
causes a low pressure zone ahead of the grinding zone, pulling fluid from the nozzle into
the wheel surface, which carries the fluid into the grinding zone.
(b) A second explanation is that the fluid in the enlarged nozzle chamber is accelerated by
the wheel itself, forming a laminar stream of coolant in contact with the wheel; this stream
is carried into the grinding zone.
Cutting fluids in grinding
Some benefits have been found from
having radial or spiral grooves in the
side faces of the grinding wheel, with
the fluid applied to the side faces of the
wheel. The grinding fluid then flows
radially along these grooves into the
grinding zone.
it is the ratio of the volume of metal removed to the volume of wheel worn away.
Ideally, the
grinding wheel
should be dressed
at the end of the
middle re· on of
uniform wear.
Grinding-wheel wear
As grinding proceeds and the active grains make repeated contact with the workpiece, the
sharp edges are worn away, producing flat areas or wear scars on the grains; this type of
wear is known as attritious wear.
As this process continues, the forces on the active grains become sufficiently large either to
fracture the grain or to tear it from the wheel bond; this type of wear is known as fracture
wear.
When a sufficiently large proportion of the active grains is fractured or torn from the wheel
bond, the wear curve enters the final stage of rapid breakdown, and grinding becomes
inefficient.
A high grinding ratio is desirable, an optimum grinding ratio will occur within the middle region
of uniform wear rate, the grinding ratio being lower in the initial breakdown stage and in the
final breakdown period.
Grinding-wheel wear
The thrust force also
affects the grinding ratio.
The wheel removal rate
becomes large, and hence
the grinding ratio becomes
small, when the thrust
force is excessive.
It is generally considered
efficient to employ
conditions where the wheel
removal rate has just
begun to rise steeply.
In this figure Ft is between
150 and 200 lbf for the
efficient conditions.
Nonconventional grinding operations
High-Speed Grinding
It has been demonstrated that increasing grinding speeds well above those used
conventionally, up to 180 m/s, can result in increased metal removal rates, without significant
changes in grinding forces, specific cutting energies, and surface finish. During early
investigations of high-speed grinding, it was suggested that the process might be developed
to compete with other machining operations for large stock removal applications. However,
production applications of high-speed grinding have not in creased significantly and use of
the process is largely restricted to groove grinding and the grinding of the more difficult-to-
machine materials.
Considerable safety problems exist with high-speed grinding, because of the increased
potential for bursting of the highly stressed wheels. Machines specifically designed to contain
broken wheel fragments are required, together with special wheel designs, often of
segmental construction.
Nonconventional grinding operations
Creep Feed Grinding
The production utilization of creep feed grinding has increased significantly, largely because
of reduced machining times for large stock removal applications, which may be as low as fifty
percent of the times for conventional grinding.
In creep feed grinding the operation is performed in a single pass with a large depth of cut,
but with low values of the infeed per revolution. Compared to conventional grinding, creep
feed grinding has the following characteristics.
Increased total grinding forces
Reduced average forces on the individual grains
Increased temperatures in the wheel-work contact zone
Reduced temperatures of the newly generated work surface
Nonconventional grinding operations
Creep Feed Grinding
The creep feed grinding machines must be more rigid than conventional grinding machines
and high-efficiency grinding-fluid application systems are required
The wheel profile stability in creep feed grinding is good and typical applications are in
grinding deep slots or the grinding of profiles, particularly those having high depth-to-width
ratios or using difficult-to-grind materials.
A typical application is the form grinding of turbine blade root profiles of high-temperature
superalloys.
Adaptation of the process to cylindrical grinding is known as deep grinding, and it involves
initial plunge grinding into the stationary workpiece, before the workpiece is rotated slowly
relative to the wheel. The complete stock removal is then completed in one revolution of the
workpiece.
Nonconventional grinding operations
Low-Stress Grinding
By careful selection of grinding conditions the occurrence of tensile residual stresses near the
surface of the workpiece can be largely eliminated.
Low-stress grinding is used on workpieces that will be subjected to high stress or stress
corrosion environments.
For low-stress grinding soft and open wheels are used, at lower cutting speeds than for
conventional grinding, typically 18 m/s rather than 30 m/s.
Oil-based grinding fluids are also used, with low infeed rates (0.005 mm per pass), to
minimize frictional effects at the work surface.
Nonconventional grinding operations
Residual stresses for low-stress,
conventional, and high-stress grinding
conditions.
High-stress grinding corresponding to
dry grinding with a relatively hard
wheel.
For low-stress grinding conditions a
small compressive residual stress is
induced near the work surface, which
can be beneficial to the fatigue
resistance of the workpiece.
Conditioning of grinding wheels
The term conditioning contains all different processes for preparation and regeneration of the
grinding wheel macro and micro geometry influencing the grinding wheel topography. Dressing can
further be classified into profiling or truing and sharpening.
Profiling/truing contains the generation of the grinding wheel profile and macro geometry in axial
and radial direction. This includes profile and runout accuracy.
Sharpening is necessary for generating the required micro geometry by resetting bond material.
Thus, worn grains are removed and new cutting edges are generated.
Cleaning process removes remaining workpiece material and residues of grain and bond. Grain
and bond itself stay unaffected. Cloggings, which reduce the chip space and impede that
cooling lubricant reaches all points of the grinding wheel, are removed .
Finishing Operations
Coated Abrasives
Coated abrasives are made of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide and zirconia alumina
Coated abrasives have more open structure than the abrasives on grinding wheels
They are used to finish flat or curved surfaces of metallic and nonmetallic parts, metallographic
specimens, and in woodworking
Belt Grinding
Used as belts for high-rate material removal with good surface finish
Replace conventional grinding operations
Microreplication perform more consistently than conventional coated abrasives and the
temperatures involved are lower
Honing
Used to improve the surface finish of holes
Tool has a reciprocating axial motion and produces a crosshatched pattern on the surface of the hole
Polishing
A process that produces a smooth, lustrous surface finish
Softening and smearing of surface layers by frictional heating and fine scale abrasive removal from
the workpiece surface
Produce shiny appearance of polished surfaces
Finishing Operations
Chemical–mechanical Polishing
Uses a suspension of abrasive particles in a water-based solution with a controlled corrosion
Removes material from the workpiece through combined abrasion and corrosion effects
Major application of this process is the polishing of silicon wafers
End