A new perspective on the stability study of centerless grinding process

Regenerative chatter is one of the most complex dynamic processes in machine tools. It is characterized by the presence of self-excited vibrations during machining, limiting the achievable tolerances in the workpieces. In order to predict the set-up conditions that produce these vibrations, it is necessary to model the regenerative mechanism responsible of their appearance accurately, so that the system stability can be studied solving the characteristic equation of the chatter loop. Although the dynamic behavior of machining processes like milling, turning or drilling is governed by a time delayed differential equation with one time delay term, a very particular problem is presented in centerless grinding. In this process, in addition to the dynamic instabilities, geometric instabilities must be analyzed, which are another important factors limiting the workpiece tolerances and lead to three time delay terms in the modeling procedure. This fact complicates its study remarkably, and the resolution of the characteristic roots of the dynamic process of these kinds of machines has not been tackled in the specialized literature as extensively as in other machining processes, being this field a challenging research line. According to this, in this paper an original and efficient method is presented to solve the roots of the characteristic equation of the centerless grinding process, based on the application of the root locus method. The main features of the proposed procedure are its ability to obtain the solutions accurately and that it is capable of determining the origin of the instabilities, so it constitutes a powerful tool to predict machine response for different set-up conditions. These interesting properties are demonstrated through the simulation results presented in this paper.     

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.     

Stability analysis and optimization algorithms for the set-up of infeed centerless grinding

This paper introduces new algorithms for analysis and optimization of infeed centerless grinding, based on high-level integration of grinding models into a web-based simulation. This holistic approach to simulation facilitates system-level simulation and solvers for several interlinked problems associated with the process mechanics. Emphasis is on structuring the model-based simulation as well as adapting and incorporating the underlying models into the algorithms. Geometric lobing-, chatter- and spinning-related process stability, as well as a time domain continuity equation, are integrated into the simulation to analyze the main quality-related limitations of the process. Once the process stability is assured for the process set-up, optimization strategies and a new infeed cycle definition function are proposed to achieve a minimal or target cycle time. An example of experimental optimization is provided to compare a high-quality process with a target cycle time to an optimized high-productivity process – demonstrating a 70% reduction in cycle time.     

Increased productivity in centerless grinding using inertial active dampers

Regenerative chatter during centerless grinding processes is one of the main factors limiting the productivity. This paper presents a novel chatter suppression technique for centerless grinding using an active damping system based on inertial actuators. Dynamic characterisation of the machine with and without active damping is used first to compute theoretical stability maps. The active nature of the system allows stabilising a wide working range of infeed operations. Finally, experimental results validate the predicted increase of stable grinding area and verify that the technology is very effective for avoiding chatter, ensuring workpiece quality and increasing process productivity.     

Advances in centerless grinding technology

This paper reviews the history of centerless grinding and its contribution to industry. It summarizes the evolution of centerless grinding theory including advanced modeling and simulation. Then, it discusses the design of main elements of a centerless grinding machine such as spindles, bed, guideways and positioning system, and provides design guidelines for future machines. The paper presents the state-of-the-art centerless grinding technologies: advanced machines, advanced process monitoring and the latest developments in grinding wheels. Finally, in conclusion, future trends and research work in centerless grinding technology are discussed.     

Practical Application of New Simulation Methods for the Elimination of Geometric Instabilities in Centerless Grinding

Elimination of geometric lobing in centerless grinding has been extensively investigated. Several models have been successfully developed, but no practical tool has been implemented on machines to ease the setting up of the machine to ensure stable conditions. This paper describes a software tool which has been developed for setting up and optimization of centerless plunge grinding processes to avoid geometric instabilities. The software generates stability maps showing the stable and non-stable geometric configurations and the number of lobes generated in non-stable conditions. Complementary time domain models quantitatively predict the evolution of the profile error for each geometric configuration.     

A new in-feed centerless grinding technique using a surface grinder

This paper deals with the development of an alternative centerless grinding technique, i.e., in-feed centerless grinding based on a surface grinder. In this new method, a compact centerless grinding unit, composed of an ultrasonic elliptic-vibration shoe, a blade and their respective holders, is installed onto the worktable of a surface grinder, and the in-feed centerless grinding operation is performed as a rotating grinding wheel is fed in downward to the cylindrical workpiece held on the shoe and the blade. During grinding, the rotational speed of the workpiece is controlled by the ultrasonic elliptic-vibration of the shoe that is produced by bonding a piezoelectric ceramic device (PZT) on a metal elastic body (stainless steel, SUS304). A simulation method is proposed for clarifying the workpiece rounding process and predicting the workpiece roundness in this new centerless grinding, and the effects of process parameters such as the eccentric angle, the wheel feed rate, the stock removal and the workpiece rotational speed on the workpiece roundness were investigated by simulation followed by experimental confirmation. The obtained results indicate that: (1) the optimum eccentric angle is around 6°; (2) higher machining accuracy can be obtained under a lower grinding wheel feed rate, larger stock removal and faster workpiece rotational speed; (3) the workpiece roundness was improved from an initial value of 19.90 μm to a final one of 0.90 μm after grinding under the optimal grinding conditions.     

Simulation investigation of through-feed centerless grinding process performed on a surface grinder

This paper proposes a simulation method for investigating the through-feed centerless grinding process performed on a surface grinder, where a compact centerless grinding unit, composed of a guide plate, an ultrasonic elliptic-vibration shoe, a blade, and their respective holders, is installed onto the worktable of a surface grinder, and the through-feed centerless grinding operation is performed as the workpiece located on the guide plate is fed into the space between the grinding wheel and ultrasonic shoe. The geometrical arrangement of the grinding apparatus including the contact lines on the grinding wheel, ultrasonic shoe, and blade are analyzed firstly for building a 3-D simulation model. Then, the workpiece forming process and the effects of major process parameters such as the workpiece eccentric angle, the stock removal, the ultrasonic shoe tilt angle and the applied voltage amplitude on the machining accuracy (i.e. workpiece cylindricity and roundness) are clarified by simulation and experiments. The obtained results indicate that higher machining accuracy can be achieved under the conditions of larger workpiece stock removal, smaller ultrasonic shoe tilt angle and higher applied voltage amplitude, while the workpiece eccentric angle is at 6°.     

Basics for In-Process Roundness Error Improvement by a Functional Workrest Blade

A centerless plunge feed grinding process can be conducted “below center” in order to increase process productivity. This statement results from the fact that the workpiece, in such a set up of the grinding gap, is fixed between grinding wheel, control wheel and workpiece rest blade, thus allowing higher feed rates of the grinding wheel support. But when grinding “below center”, the advantage of a higher productivity is accompanied by a negative effect, the arise of a polygonal workpiece form. Regarding only the geometrical rounding effect as one reason for this process characteristic phenomenon, different workpiece center displacements are examined and analytically described. The knowledge of relevant workpiece center movements within a centerless grinding application allows a quantified analysis of the influence of these displacements on the geometrical rounding effect. Deriving from such an analysis, a functional workrest blade is discussed, which influences the stability of the geometrical rounding effect.     

微晶陶瓷刚玉砂轮对微电机转子轴的磨削性能评价

针对目前微电机转子轴无心外圆磨过程中砂轮修整频繁的问题,采用微晶陶瓷刚玉砂轮替代传统刚玉砂轮磨削微电机转子轴。通过搭建平面磨削工艺平台,参考无心磨砂轮修整及其磨削加工参数,从磨削温度、工件表面粗糙度、表面微观形貌、磨削比等方面,对比分析微晶陶瓷刚玉砂轮与传统刚玉砂轮的磨削性能。结果表明:相对传统刚玉砂轮,微晶陶瓷刚玉砂轮不仅有效改善磨削温度（降低38.5％）,提高工件表面加工质量（表面粗糙度降低78.6％）,还具有较高的砂轮磨削比（提高2.2倍）。选用微晶陶瓷刚玉砂轮对微电机转子轴进行无心磨生产线验证,结果表明:微电机转子轴无心磨样件的各项检测结果均满足实际生产指标要求,且较传统刚玉砂轮延长了1.6倍的修整周期,在提高加工质量的同时,显著提高了生产效率。      

Effects of process parameters on workpiece roundness in tangential-feed centerless grinding using a surface grinder

The present authors proposed a new centerless grinding method using a surface grinder in their previous study [Wu, Y., Kondo, T., Kato, M., 2005. A new centerless grinding technique using a surface grinder. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 162–163, 709–717]. In this method, a compact centerless grinding unit composed mainly of an ultrasonic elliptic-vibration shoe is installed onto the worktable of a multipurpose surface grinder to perform tangential-feed centerless grinding operations. However, for the complete establishment of the new method it is crucial to clarify the workpiece rounding process and the effects of process parameters such as the worktable feed rate, the stock removal and the workpiece rotational speed on the machining accuracy, i.e., workpiece roundness, so that the optimum grinding conditions can be determined. In this paper, the effects of the process parameters on workpiece roundness are investigated by simulation and experiments. For the simulation analysis, a grinding model taking into account the elastic deformation of the machine is created. Then, a practical way to determine the machining-elasticity parameter is developed. Further, simulation analysis is carried out to predict the variation of workpiece roundness during grinding and to discover how the process parameters affect the roundness. Finally, actual grinding operations are performed by installing the previously constructed unit onto a CNC surface grinder to confirm the simulation results. The obtained results indicate that: (1) a slower worktable feed rate and higher workpiece rotational speed give better roundness; (2) better roundness can be also obtained when the stock removal is set at a larger value; (3) the workpiece roundness was improved from an initial value of 23.9 μm to a final value of 0.84 μm after grinding.     

Determination of waviness decrease rate by measuring the frequency characteristics of the grinding force in centerless grinding

In centerless grinding, it is difficult to optimize the grinding conditions for minimizing the workpiece roundness error because of the high number of process parameters such as center height angle, blade angle, and stock removal rate. We had previously proposed a function for evaluating grinding conditions, i.e., the waviness decrease rate, in order to automatically select the optimum process parameters. In order to build a closed-loop control system for the process parameters, however, it is necessary to find a practical way to determine the waviness decrease rate. In this paper, the relationship between the waviness decrease rate and the dynamic components of the grinding force was investigated analytically. It was found that the frequency characteristics of the waviness decrease rate show a similar tendency to those of the grinding force. A grinding force measurement system was built and experiments for measuring the frequency characteristics of the grinding force were carried out. As a result, it was confirmed that the waviness decrease rate can be determined by measuring the frequency characteristics of the grinding force.     

Heavy-Duty Centerless Grinding for Multi-Diameter Shafts

This paper deals with the restraint of a jumping motion of a workpiece in the heavy-duty centerless grinding of a multi-diameter shaft. The figure accuracy, such a roundness or straightness, of the multi-diameter shaft tends to be worse than that of the uniform diameter shaft in centerless grinding.It was determined both analytically and experimentally that the deterioration of the accuracy was caused by the jumping motion of the workpiece, when it was affected by an upward frictional force from the regulating wheel.The analysis also specifies a stable grinding condition and makes it possible to improve the accuracy in heavy-duty centerless grinding for multi-diameter shafts.     

Stability analysis and time domain simulation of multiple diameter parts during infeed centerless grinding

Multiple diameter part applications cope a relevant percentage of infeed centerless grinding operations. Nevertheless, general stability analysis and process optimisation has been mainly investigated for mono-diameter parts. This paper presents a time domain simulation software developed for multiple diameter parts that allows the simulation of average and particular evolution of process forces, power, machine deflections, thermal behaviour, real part diameter and roughness. First, a work rotation stability analysis is carried out. Then, with the use of both the stability analysis and the infeed cycle simulation, optimized process parameters and cycles are defined in order to increase process productivity.     

A new through-feed centerless grinding technique using a surface grinder

This paper proposes an alternative centerless grinding technique, i.e., through-feed centerless grinding using a surface grinder. In the new method, a compact centerless grinding unit, composed of a guide plate, an ultrasonic shoe, a blade, and their respective holders, is installed onto the worktable of a surface grinder, and the through-feed centerless grinding operation is performed as the workpiece located on the guide plate is fed into the space between the grinding wheel and ultrasonic shoe. The ultrasonic shoe, produced by bonding a piezoelectric ceramic device onto a metal elastic body, is tilted at a small angle so as to provide sufficient force to control the workpiece rotational motion and to feed the workpiece along its axis by the ultrasonic elliptic-vibration. In this paper, the workpiece motion control tests were carried out firstly to make sure that the workpiece rotational speed and through-feed rate can be exactly controlled by the ultrasonic shoe which is essential for performing high-precision grinding operations. Then, the effects of major process parameters such as the workpiece eccentric angle, the stock removal, the ultrasonic shoe tilt angle and the applied voltage amplitude on the machining accuracy (i.e. workpiece cylindricity and workpiece roundness) were clarified experimentally. The obtained results indicate that: (1) the workpiece rotational speed can be adjusted by changing the applied voltage amplitude, whereas its through-feed rate can be adjusted by changing both the applied voltage amplitude and the ultrasonic shoe tilt angle; (2) the optimum eccentric angle is 6°, and a larger stock removal, a smaller tilt angle, or a higher applied voltage is better for higher machining accuracy; (3) the workpiece cylindricity and roundness were improved from the initial value of 16.63 μm and 14.86 μm to the final ones of 1.49 μm and 0.74 μm under the optimal grinding conditions.     

Simulation of an active vibration control system in a centerless grinding machine using a reduced updated FE model

In this paper, a novel and complete process to simulate an active vibration control system in a centerless grinding machine is presented. Based on the updated finite element (FE) model of the machine, the structural modifications performed to incorporate active elements are detailed, as well as the subsequent reduction procedure to obtain a low-order state space model. This reduced structural model was integrated in the cutting process model giving a tool adapted for the purpose of simulating different control laws. Using the developed model, a control algorithm, which previously had been implemented in the centerless grinding machine under study, was checked. The simulation results were in agreement with the experimentally obtained ones, showing that the designed model is able to reproduce machine behaviour with the control activated. This model constitutes a powerful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches to that of the described one, making it possible to tackle an optimisation process of the control system by means of simulations and, thus, avoiding the costs that would involve the practical implementation of each one.     

无心磨削工艺参数的非线性优化研究

为了选择无心磨削的最佳工艺参数,通过对其加工原理及工艺参数进行分析,在满足产品技术要求和磨削加工条件等设计约束的前提下,建立磨削工艺参数优化的非线性数学模型。应用MATLAB优化工具箱对工艺参数进行优化计算,得到最佳的工艺参数。优化后的工艺参数使得单位时间内的金属切除率大幅度提高,优化计算的结果验证了此方法的有效性。     

Rounding and stability in centreless grinding

The paper presents a method for selecting grinding conditions and assists researchers to understand the complex dynamics of centreless grinding. It overcomes the problem of deriving dynamic stability charts for particular geometries and difficulty of interpreting such charts to adjust work speed to overcome lobing problems. Classic dynamic stability charts cannot assess stability levels in proximity to integer lobes, a particular problem for centreless grinding. The paper overcomes these problems employing a simply calculated new dynamic stability parameter A_dyn. The new parameter A_dyn simplifies the optimisation of grinding variables including set-up geometry and work speed in relation to resonant frequency. It is difficult to interpret relative dynamic stability of centreless grinding by classical methods for different set-ups, work speeds and numbers of lobes. A new method is employed in this paper based on the well-established Nyquist stability criterion. The dynamic stability parameter A_dyn is based on the real part of the characteristic equation. It is easily computed and presented on a single chart for particular work speed, resonant frequency and for a wide range of numbers of lobes. The method clearly shows the effect on rounding strength both for stable and unstable conditions. Most authors computing dynamic stability charts have ignored positive down boundaries and negative up boundaries showing a lack of a comprehensive treatment for a situation that conflicts with recommendations for conventional positive up boundaries. The new method simplifies this problem.Small differences in set-up geometry and work speed selection can be easily assessed. The new method can be used as a diagnostic tool for adjusting grinding conditions to overcome roundness problems. The user is not constrained by a historic set-up range since there are practical situations where other set-ups are preferred such as small tangent angles for large and heavy work-pieces, and even negative tangent angle for some types of centreless machine.Previous research is reviewed to provide an understanding of the need for a new approach to stability. Practical implications are explained for selection of grinding conditions. The method is supported by reference to experimental results.     

Continuous workpiece speed variation (CWSV): Model based practical application to avoid chatter in grinding

The continuous variation of rotation speeds provides a means of avoiding chatter instability in different machining processes. This paper presents a time domain dynamic model that simulates chatter vibration during infeed centerless grinding for any continuously variable work rotation speed strategy. As a result of taking machine dynamics and main non-linear effects of the process into account, part roundness error is predicted for the whole grinding cycle. Lastly, experimental results have validated the model and verified that adequate speed variation strategies are capable of avoiding chatter and improving workpiece roundness and roughness, both for infeed and throughfeed centerless grinding.     

无心磨削中影响工件形状精度的因素分析

无心磨削中，工件的磨削面就是工件的定位基准面。无心磨削后并不都能将工件的形状精度进一步改善，故要得到较高的工件形状精度就要合理地选择磨削参数。影响工件几何形状的因素很多，但影响工件某项几何要素的因素是特定的．如果将这种特定的因素进行总结，可以对实际生产过程进行指导。本文通过对各种影响工件几何要素的因素如：原始误差、工件中心高、托板顶高、磨削区域形状、侧导板位置等归类总结，分析了这些因素分别对“棱圆度”和“椭圆度”的影响，并找出了在这些因素综合作用时，找寻最佳效果的方法。工件中心高对其“棱圆度”和“椭圆度”的影响不一致，选择不同的托板顶角可以在降低中心高的同时，保证对工件“椭圆度”的影响程度，以使中心高度值较低时，满足工件“棱圆度”和“椭圆度”的要求。