Uncut chip thickness and coolant delivery effects on the performance of circumferentially grooved grinding wheels

摘要

This surface-grinding study investigates and quantifies the improved cutting mechanics and coolant delivery achieved using circumferentially grooved grinding wheels and compares the results with regular non-grooved grinding wheels. It was shown that, when performing shallow dry grinding experiments, a grooved grinding wheel yielded specific energies that were 30.6 % lower than a regular non-grooved wheel. This reduction in specific energy was attributed to the grooved wheel enabling an increase in the size effect. Evidence for this hypothesis was gathered using a scanning electron microscope which revealed that the grooved grinding wheel chips were approximately six to eight times wider than those from the regular non-grooved grinding wheel. It was also shown that, when performing wet grinding experiments, a grooved grinding wheel yielded specific energies that were 41.3 % lower than a regular non-grooved wheel. This additional 10.7 % reduction in specific energy was hypothesized to be due to the grooved wheel enabling more grinding fluid to enter the grinding zone leading to better lubrication and cooling. A fluid flow comparison was then carried out to validate this hypothesis, and it was observed that the grooved grinding wheel was able to deliver more than twice the amount of coolant flow into the contact zone when compared to a regular non-grooved wheel.