Dressing of grinding wheels for high rate of metal removal

Abstract

There is an increasing demand by industry for the utilisation of high rates of metal removal in the grinding process. Traditionally the grinding process has been considered as a finishing process following rough machining and hardening. If grinding is to be considered as a primary metal removal process, the dressing techniques used to prepare the wheel for grinding need to be modified. In recognising this need, the Science Research Council sponsored a co-ordinated grinding programme to examine the factors that contribute to the attainment of high rates of metal removal. The work reported here is part of that programme and deals with the preparation of grinding wheels using single and multi point dressing tools. The mode of grinding in all tests was cylindrical plunge grinding. The test programme was designed to show the effect of different dressing tools, wheel speed, metal removal rate and dress lead on the grinding ratio, surface finish and grinding forces. Consideration is also given to the effect on these measured results when the work speed and hardness(or grade) of the wheel are varied. The results of the tests are detailed in Chapter 5 and recommendations regarding the settings of operating parameters are also given. It is apparent from these results that various factors in the dressing and grinding operation influence the initial and subsequent levels of grinding force. These factors are discussed in Chapter 6 and empirical formulae developed to predict the levels of normal and tangential force during grinding. These formulae utilise commonly specified parameters in the grinding process. The ability to predict grinding forces is an essential tool for machine design or for developing adaptive control systems and the formulae presented here are more easily applied than those of other researchers which rely on measurements obtained during testing.