Fast time constant estimation for plunge grinding process control

The time constant of a grinding control system indicates the speed of response to a control command and reflects variations of the wheel condition. In order to allow correct and continuous control adjustment, fast in-process estimation of the parameter is necessary. The significance of the grinding system time constant is discussed and the control system for the plunge grinding process described. An algorithm for fast time constant estimation is presented for adaptive control of the grinding process. The algorithm is useful for geometry-based grinding control systems where a workpiece size sensor is used and multiple control tasks are implemented. Experimental testing of the algorithm is explained and comparison between results from grinding and those from analysis shows that the proposed algorithm is sufficiently accurate and effective for adaptive control of the plunge grinding process.     

An integrated size and roundness adaptive control system for the plunge grinding process

A time variant, roundness based adaptive size and roundness control system is presented for the plunge grinding process which avoids the need for a large data processing capacity and compares favourably in performance with the large and expensive control system previously developed and therefore improves the prospect of industrial use. The non-linear control functions and adaptive model are presented and analysed. The hardware of the integrated, low cost system and the software algorithms used to reduce the computational power requirements are discussed and the results of grinding experiments are presented.     

Simulation of plunge centerless grinding processes

Workpiece out-of-roundness is one of the most important problems in centerless grinding. Besides geometrical and kinematical effects, the dynamical behavior of the machine structure, the grinding and regulating wheel together with the support blade fundamentally influence the process stability and the workpiece accuracy. The paper presents a method for a numerical simulation of plunge centerless grinding processes in time domain. Under consideration of the geometrical conditions of the grinding gap and the dynamical compliance behavior of the grinding system the developed algorithm enables a quantitative determination of the workpiece out-of-roundness, the progression of grinding and reaction forces as well as the calculation of dynamical displacements.     

A study on chatter boundaries of cylindrical plunge grinding with process condition-dependent dynamics

This paper presents a systematic study on the chatter characteristics of cylindrical plunge grinding processes. Chatter occurrence under a wide range of operating conditions is experimentally identified. The unique transient chatter behaviors during spark-in and spark-out of plunge grinding are also studied; and the transient chatter occurrence is separated from the steady-state chatter occurrence, which is used to define the chatter boundaries.It is shown that the measured structure dynamics of the wheel/workpiece exhibit strong dependency on grinding conditions. The dynamic/chatter model of cylindrical plunge grinding [H. Li, Y.C. Shin, A time-domain dynamic model for chatter prediction of cylindrical plunge grinding processes, ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering 128(2) (2006) 404–415] is improved to handle the grinding force-dependent structure dynamics, and the modified model is validated by comparing the predicted chatter boundaries with experimental chatter conditions.     

A study on the machining characteristics in the external plunge grinding using the current signal of the spindle motor

This paper describes the machining characteristics of external plunge grinding. The study investigates the process using the current signals of a spindle motor through a hall sensor. Grinding experiments were conducted under various grinding conditions such as wheel speeds, workpiece speeds and infeed rates with a conventional vitrified bonded wheel. Analyzing the current signal of the spindle motor, a relationship between current signals and the metal removal rate in terms of the infeed rate is induced. It was also shown that a hall sensor has similar capabilities in evaluation of grinding behavior compared to the AE signals, which are useful for monitoring the grinding process.     

Characterization and modelling of the grinding process of metal matrix composites

In this paper, some relationships for modelling force components, cutting energy and workpiece surface roughness in grinding of metal matrix composites, are proposed. To this end, experimental data obtained from tests carried out on a horizontal surface grinder are employed. Grinding wheels based upon alumina abrasive were used and aluminium alloy samples reinforced with silicon carbide were ground. The empirical models obtained could be utilised to predict how the cutting parameters affect the grinding process and the machining quality of these non-traditional materials. The influence of shape, orientation and content of the reinforcement on material grindability is taken into consideration.     

Generalized practical models of cylindrical plunge grinding processes

This paper presents generalized grinding process models developed for cylindrical grinding processes based on the systematic analysis and experiments. The generalized model forms are established to maintain the same model structures with a minimal number of parameters so that the model coefficients can be determined through a small number of experiments when applied to different grinding workpiece materials and wheels. The relationships for power, surface roughness, G-ratio and surface burning are established for various steel alloys and alumina grinding wheels. It is shown that the established models provide good predictive capabilities while maintaining simple structures.     

A simplified methodology to determine the cutting stiffness and the contact stiffness in the plunge grinding process

This paper presents a simplified experimental technique to determine approximately the cutting stiffness and the contact stiffness in the plunge grinding process. The experimental methodology consists of a machine static stiffness test and several grinding processes. The cutting stiffness is obtained from the workpiece headstock static stiffness and from its displacement during the grinding processes, measured by a LVDT transducer. The contact stiffness is resolved from the expression that relates it with the grinding process time constant and other grinding parameters. The time constant is obtained from the exponential that characterises the machine deformation during the spark-out, measured as well by the LVDT transducer placed on the workpiece headstock. The variation of the obtained values of the contact stiffness with some of the grinding parameters is also shown.     

A study of the corner wear in cylindrical plunge grinding

The tolerance on the corner radius is quite important in a number of cylindrical grinding operations and hence the corner wear is critical. Preliminary investigations have shown that the corner wears off in increasing arcs of radii and could be simulated by dressing the corner to specific radii. A possible method of in-process monitoring of corner wear is by monitoring of the grinding forces during the process. This paper briefly discusses the nature of corner wear and the force fluctuations encountered in plunge grinding due to corner wear, as also the possibilities of using this data for in-process monitoring of corner wear. Another possible method of in-process monitoring of corner wear by using air-flow technique is also discussed briefly.     

双程切入磨削表面硬化层的研究

采用缓进给磨削方式和不同的磨削行程对40Cr钢进行了磨削淬硬,对单程和双程磨削表面硬化层的组织与性能进行了比较。结果表明,尽管单程和双程磨削时的原始组织不同,但两者的表面硬化层组织及其变化趋势完全相同。双程磨削淬硬可使表面硬化层深度及其均匀性、显微硬度及耐磨性得到进一步提高;但其最大残余压应力值及应力影响深度有所降低。双程磨削硬化层组织的形成机制同样适用于多程磨削淬硬或淬硬钢的磨削淬硬等场合。     

Temperature distribution in a workpiece during cylindrical plunge grinding

In cylindrical plunge grinding, a large amount of heat flows into the workpiece continuously, accumulates and remains even after the process, which causes dimensional error. Therefore it is necessary to investigate the temperature distribution in the workpiece during grinding and analyze the influence of grinding heat on the dimension. Such an investigation has not been done enough, because the technology to measure the temperature distribution in the rotating workpiece has not matured. Considering such background, an in-process measuring system has been developed, which makes it possible to detect the temperature distribution in a wide range from the outer surface to the inside of the rotating workpiece. The system consists of small temperature sensors which are embedded into the workpiece, a micro computer attached on the workpiece which acquires the data from the sensors and transmits to a personal computer by a wireless communication device. Furthermore the contact type thermocouple which enables to measure the rotating surface temperature is added to the system. Measurement experiments revealed that the grinding heat conducts from the workpiece surface toward the center, accumulates, and remains in the workpiece even after the process. Heat conduction simulation was also performed. Good agreement was achieved between the simulated temperatures and experimental measurements.     

Simulation of workpiece forming and centre displacement in plunge centreless grinding

By reducing the set-up time of centreless grinding system, higher process flexibility and productivity can be obtained. This goal is approached by developing a simulation model that assists in efficient centreless grinding system set-up. In this paper, an analytical modelling of plunge centreless grinding is described. The developed model incorporates the workpiece forming mechanism along with workpiece dynamics and facilitates the simulation of workpiece form and its centre displacement. The prototype simulation model has been embedded within a spreadsheet environment and experimentally verified.     

Correlating surface roughness and vibration on plunge cylindrical grinding of steel

Since the wear of a grinding wheel has a direct effect on the workpiece vibration and both have effect on the workpiece quality, the main goal of this work is to study the relation between the process vibration signals and the workpiece quality (mean roughness, circularity and burning) as the grinding wheel gets worn, in an attempt to use these signals to decide the exact moment to dress the wheel. In order to reach this goal, several experiments were carried out in a plunge cylindrical grinding operation of an AISI 52100 quenched and tempered steel, having as input variables the dressing overlap ratio, the spark out time and the workpiece velocity. The output variables were the workpiece surface roughness and circularity and also the process vibration during both, the cutting phase and the spark out phase of the grinding cycle. The main conclusions were: (1) it is possible to have good workpiece quality even with a vibration level much higher than that obtained with a recently dressed wheel; (2) vibration during cutting phase and at the end of complete spark out can be used to monitor the wheel condition at least when high dressing overlap ratio is used; and (3) the decrease in the spark out time makes the vibration at the end of spark out increase a lot, but does not cause such a damage in surface roughness. This fact makes the use of partial spark out feasible in some situations.     

切入式磨削烧伤仿真预测与控制方法研究

基于磨削热传递模型和磨削去除率模型,提出了一种基于监控功率信号的切入式磨削烧伤仿真预测与控制方法,对砂轮在粗磨、半精磨、精磨、光磨各阶段的磨削功率信号进行监测,再利用计算机对机床数控系统各加工工艺参数进行控制,使砂轮实际磨削功率信号始终低于磨削烧伤最大功率边界的5%～15%,来避免出现工件磨削烧伤现象;同时,用轴承套圈内圆磨削试验验证了该方法的有效性和实用性。      

Simulation based optimization of the NC-shape grinding process with toroid grinding wheels

For achieving high material removal rates while grinding free formed surfaces, shape grinding with toroid grinding wheels is favored. The material removal is carried out line by line. The contact area between grinding wheel and workpiece is therefore complex and varying. Without detailed knowledge about the contact area, which is influenced by many factors, the shape grinding process can only be performed sub-optimally. To improve this flexible production process and in order to ensure a suitable process strategy a simulation-tool is being developed. The simulation comprises a geometric-kinematic process simulation and a finite elements simulation. This paper presents basic parts of the investigation, modelling and simulation of the NC-shape grinding process with toroid grinding wheels.     

Analysis of the different forms of application and types of cutting fluid used in plunge cylindrical grinding using conventional and superabrasive CBN grinding wheels

The work reported here involved an investigation into the grinding process, one of the last finishing processes carried out on a production line. Although several input parameters are involved in this process, attention today focuses strongly on the form and amount of cutting fluid employed, since these substances may be seriously pernicious to human health and to the environment, and involve high purchasing and maintenance costs when utilized and stored incorrectly. The type and amount of cutting fluid used directly affect some of the main output variables of the grinding process which are analyzed here, such as tangential cutting force, specific grinding energy, acoustic emission, diametrical wear, roughness, residual stress and scanning electron microscopy. To analyze the influence of these variables, an optimised fluid application methodology was developed (involving rounded 5, 4 and 3 mm diameter nozzles and high fluid application pressures) to reduce the amount of fluid used in the grinding process and improve its performance in comparison with the conventional fluid application method (of diffuser nozzles and lower fluid application pressure). To this end, two types of cutting fluid (a 5% synthetic emulsion and neat oil) and two abrasive tools (an aluminium oxide and a superabrasive CBN grinding wheel) were used. The results revealed that, in every situation, the optimised application of cutting fluid significantly improved the efficiency of the process, particularly the combined use of neat oil and CBN grinding wheel.     

On the mechanics of the grinding process – Part I. Stochastic nature of the grinding process

Grinding of metals is a complex material removal operation involving cutting, ploughing, and rubbing depending on the extent of interaction between the abrasive grains and the workmaterial under the conditions of grinding. It is also a stochastic process in that a large number of abrasive grains of unknown geometry, whose geometry varies with time, participate in the process and remove material from the workpiece. Also, the number of grains passing through the grinding zone per unit time is extremely large. To address such a complex problem, it is necessary to analyze the mechanics of the grinding process using probability statistics, which is the subject of this investigation. Such an analysis is applicable to both form and finish grinding (FFG), such as surface grinding and stock removal grinding (SRG), such as cut-off operation. In this investigation, various parameters of the process including the number of abrasive grains in actual contact, the number of actual cutting grains per unit area for a given depth of wheel indentation, the minimum diameter of the contacting and cutting grains, and the volume of the chip removed per unit time were determined analytically and compared with the experimental results reported in the literature. Such an analysis enables the use of actual number of contacting and cutting grains in the grinding wheel for thermal and wheel wear analyses. It can also enable comparison of analytical work with the experimental results and contribute towards a better understanding of the grinding process. The analysis is applied to some typical cases of fine grinding and cut-off operations reported in the literature. It is found that out of a large number of grains on the surface of the wheel passing over the workpiece per second (˜million or more per second), only a very small fraction of the grains merely rub or plough into the workmaterial (3.8% for FFG and 18% for SRG) and even a smaller fraction (0.14% for FFG and 1.8% for SRG) of that participate in actual cutting, thus validating Hahn’s rubbing grain hypothesis.     

Effect of grinding-induced cyclic heating on the hardened layer generation in the plunge grinding of a cylindrical component

This paper discusses the effects of the grinding-induced cyclic heating on the properties of the hardened layer in a plunge cylindrical grinding process on the high strength steel EN26. It was found that a multi-pass grinding brings about a uniform and continuous hardened layer along the circumference of the cylindrical workpiece. An increase of the number of grinding passes, leads to a thicker layer of hardening, a larger compressive residual stress and a deeper plastic deformation zone. Within the plastic deformation zone, the martensitic grains are refined by the thermo-mechanical loading, giving rise to a hardness of 12.5% higher than that from a conventional martensitic transformation. The coupled effects of heat accumulation and wheel wear in the multi-pass grinding are the main causes for the thickening of the hardened layer. A too small infeed per workpiece revolution would result in insufficient grinding heat, and in turn, bring about an undesirable tempered hardened layer and a reduction of its hardness.     

Phase-field modelling of dynamic recrystallization process during friction stir welding of aluminium alloys

ABSTRACT

Numerical investigation on dynamic recrystallization in friction stir welds is of great significance to control the microstructure evolution and grains size in joints. The recrystallization and grain growth in the nugget centre of friction stir welded 6061 aluminium alloy are numerically simulated by combining the multiphase-field model with Kocks–Mecking dislocation model and employing the calculated temperature and strain rate variations with time in FSW process. The reliability of the model is verified by electron backscattered diffraction measurement results of grains size distribution at the same position. The specific reasons for different grain sizes under different levels of welding speed are quantitatively analysed. The ratios of recrystallization duration to deformation period and incubation period to deformation time are determined.     

An adaptive-control system for the grinding process

A new adaptive-control system has been successful in the external, cylindrical cross-grinding process in terms of raising the material removal rate and improving the geometrical accuracy of slender shafts. In comparison with the conventional method in the cross-grinding process, this method of adaptive-control grinding is superior in respect of the material removal rate and the roundness of the slender shafts. The preceding beneficial effects are independent of the grinding parameters chosen. It is practicable, therefore, for the adaptive control system to be applied in practical production.