A study of plane surface grinding under minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) conditions

Abrasive material removal processes can be very challenging due to high power requirements and resulting high temperatures. Effective lubrication and cooling is necessary to ensure temperature levels do not become excessive. Current fluid delivery systems are frequently seen to increase production cost due to fluid purchase and disposal. Moreover, waste fluids have a negative environmental impact. One of the successful fluid reduction methods employed in machining is minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), where a small amount of fluid is directed into the machining area in the form of an aerosol. This study aims to improve understanding of the effectiveness of MQL in the fine grinding plane surface grinding regime. This paper presents a comparative study of three cooling methods: conventional flood cooling, dry grinding and grinding with MQL. Common steels EN8, M2 and EN31 were ground with a general purpose alumina wheel. Results obtained demonstrate that MQL can deliver a comparable performance to flood delivery under the conditions investigated. Performance indicators included: grind power, specific forces (tangential and normal), grind temperature and workpiece surface roughness.     

Influence of oil mist parameters on minimum quantity lubrication – MQL grinding process

Promising alternatives to conventional dry and fluid coolant applications are minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) or near dry grinding. Despite several researches, there have been a few investigations about the influence of MQL parameters on the process results, such as oil flow rate, air pressure, MQL nozzle position and distance from the wheel–workpiece contact zone. The current study aims to show through experiment and modeling, the effects of the above parameters on grinding performance such as grinding forces and surface roughness. The results show that the setting location of the nozzle is an important factor regarding the effective application of MQL oil mist. It has been shown that optimal grinding results can be obtained when the MQL nozzle is positioned angularly toward the wheel (at approximately 10–20° to the workpiece surface). In addition, it is found that the efficient transportation of oil droplets to the contact zone requires higher mass flow rate of the oil mist towards the grains flat area and longer deposition distance of an oil droplet. Applying the new setup, considerable reduction in the grinding forces and surface roughness has been achieved.     

Investigation on minimum quantity lubricant-MQL grinding of 100Cr6 hardened steel using different abrasive and coolant–lubricant types

Large quantities of coolant–lubricants are still widely used in the metal working industry, generating high consumption and discard costs and impacting the environment. Alternatives to current practices are getting more serious consideration in response to environmental and operational cost pressures. In the grinding process, promising alternatives to conventional dry and fluid coolant applications are minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) or near dry grinding process. Despite several researches, there have been a few investigations about the influence of different types of coolant–lubricants and grinding wheels on the process results. The current study aims to show the effects of the above parameters on grinding performance such as grinding forces and surface quality. The tests have been performed in presence of fluid, air jet and eleven types of coolant–lubricants, as well as, in dry condition. The grinding wheels employed in this study were vitrified bond corundum, resin bond corundum and vitrified bond SG wheels. The results indicate that SG wheels and MQL oils have potential for the development of the MQL process in comparison to vitrified and resin bond corundums and water miscible oils. Also, the lowest thermal damages, material side flow on the ground surface and wheel loading were generated by using the SG grinding wheel in MQL grinding process.     

Improving minimum quantity lubrication in CBN grinding using compressed air wheel cleaning

The application of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) in grinding has emerged as an alternative for reducing the abundant flow of cutting fluids, thus achieving cleaner production. Although considered an innovative technique in grinding operations, its widespread application is hindered due primarily to the high heat generation and wheel pore clogging caused by machined chips, harming the final product quality and increasing tool wear on the machine. This study sought to improve MQL use in grinding. In addition to the conventional MQL injected at the wheel/workpiece interface, a compressed air jet was used to clean the mixture of MQL oil and machined chips from clogged wheel pores. Experiments were conducted using external cylindrical plunge grinding on AISI 4340 quenched and tempered steel, and a vitrified cubic boron nitrite (CBN) wheel. The cooling-lubrication methods employed were the conventional flood coolant application, MQL (without cleaning), and MQL with a cleaning jet directed at the wheel surface at different angles of incidence. The main goal of these experiments was to verify the viability of replacing the traditional abundant flow of cutting fluid with MQL and wheel cleaning. The analyses were conducted by measuring the following output variables of the process: workpiece surface roughness and roundness errors, diametrical wheel wear, acoustic emission generated by the process, and metallographic images of the ground surface and subsurface. Results show the positive effects of implementing the cleaning jet technique as a technological improvement of minimum quantity lubrication in grinding in order to reduce the usage of cutting fluids. The MQL technique with cleaning compressed air jet, for a specific angle of incidence (30°), proved to be extremely efficient in the improvement of the surface quality and accurate workpiece shape; it also reduced wheel wear when compared to the other cooling-lubrication methods that were tested (without a cleaning jet).     

低温冷却磨削机理的研究

磨削是各种加工材料获得精确尺寸和表面完整性的主要加工方法,但在加工过程中,由于磨削区温度过高,经常导致工件表面热损伤、微裂纹和产生残余拉应力,严重影响工件表面质量和完整性的提高。本文通过采用低温CO2和液态氮为磨削冷却介质,有效地控制磨削区温度。实验结果表明,与干磨削和油冷却磨削相比,液态氮低温冷却磨削力、比磨削能、磨削区温度明显降低,工件表面质量和完整性显著提高,同时明显提高了砂轮的使用寿命和减少了冷却液对环境地污染。     

Improving grinding performance by controlling air flow around a grinding wheel

In grinding, high specific heat is generated, and hence, appropriate control of temperature through effective flow of grinding fluid is necessary to obtain a quality ground surface. It is known that in conventional fluid delivery method, most of fluid is wasted due to presence of a stiff air layer around the grinding wheel. This air layer is generated around the wheel due to the rotation of the porous grinding wheel at a high speed. To improve grinding performance, hence, penetration into this air layer is required.In this work, a pneumatic barrier set-up has been developed for controlling the stiff air layer around the grinding wheel. The formation of stiff air layer has been studied experimentally by measuring the variation of air pressure around grinding wheel periphery at different parametric conditions of pneumatic barrier. This pneumatic barrier tends to break the stiff air layer before the fluid flow area or grinding zone. A remarkable amount of reduction in pressure of the air layer is observed at the fluid flow zone. To observe beneficial effects of suppressing the air layer, grinding experiments are performed under dry, flood cooling and flood cooling with pneumatic barrier setup. Reduction of grinding forces and surface roughness are clearly observed with the use of pneumatic barrier setup, and hence, its applicability.     

Performance evaluation of Ti–6Al–4V grinding using chip formation and coefficient of friction under the influence of nanofluids

Nanofluid, fluid suspensions of nanometer sized particles are revolutionizing the field of heat transfer area. Addition of nano-particles to the base fluid also alters the lubricating properties by reducing the friction. In grinding process, friction between the abrasive grains and the workpiece is a key issue governing the main grinding output. It has a direct influence on grinding force, power, specific energy and wheel wear. Moreover, high friction force increases the heat generation and lead to thermal damage in the surface layer of the ground work. Hence, any effort towards the friction control will enhance the component quality significantly. In this study, nanofluid as metal working fluid (MWF) is made by adding 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1% volume concentration of Al₂O₃ and CuO nano-particles to the water during the surface grinding of Ti–6Al–4V in minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) mode. Surface integrity of ground surface, morphology of the wheel, and chip formation characteristics are studied using surface profilometer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and stereo zoom microscopy (SZM). Coefficient of friction was estimated On-Machine using the measured forces. The results showed that the type of nanoparticle and its concentration in base fluid and the MQL flow rate play a significant role in reducing friction. Application of nanofluid leads to the reduction of tangential forces and grinding zone temperature. The cooling effect is also evident from the short C-type chip formation. MQL application with Al₂O₃ nanofluid helps in effective flushing of chip material from the grinding zone, thereby solving the main problem during the grinding of Ti–6Al–4V.     

镍基单晶高温合金磨削润滑方式对表面完整性的影响

为提高镍基单晶高温合金DD5的磨削表面质量,采用单因素试验探究3种磨削加工方法（干磨削、传统浇注式、微量润滑（minimum quantity lubrication, MQL））对其表面完整性的影响。结果表明:在不同冷却条件下,DD5磨削表面粗糙度从低到高依次为MQL、传统浇注式、干磨削方式下的。当砂轮线速度较小时,磨削表面质量较差,存在较深划痕和沟槽;当砂轮线速度较大时,磨削表面质量较好,磨痕较小,且分布均匀。在距磨削表面为5～15 μm时,DD5亚表面显微硬度随着深度的增加而急剧下降;在距磨削表面为20～150 μm时,DD5亚表面显微硬度趋于平衡,其在540 HV附近波动。      

An investigation of graphite nanoplatelets as lubricant in grinding

Cooling and lubrication are very critical to ensure workpiece quality in grinding due to the high friction and intense heat generation involved in the process. Liquid lubricants have traditionally been used in flood form or minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), raising however, major environmental and economic concerns. The focus of this study is to evaluate the performance of graphite nanoplatelets as a lubricant in surface grinding. The role of graphite's characteristics such as form, size and concentration; and the effect of the carrying medium and the graphite's application method are determined based on an experimental study. The results indicate that graphite nanoplatelets significantly reduce the grinding forces, specific energy, and improve surface finish during surface grinding of hardened D-2 tool steel. A comparison with results obtained in conventional MQL grinding is also provided. The proper selection of graphite, carrying medium and application method can lead to a low cost, nontoxic and simple alternative to solid lubrication or MQL grinding.     

Analysis of surface integrity for minimum quantity lubricant—MQL in grinding

The quality of machined components is currently of high interest, for the market demands mechanical components of increasingly high performance, not only from the standpoint of functionality but also from that of safety. Components produced through operations involving the removal of material display surface irregularities resulting not only from the action of the tool itself, but also from other factors that contribute to their superficial texture. This texture can exert a decisive influence on the application and performance of the machined component. This article analyzes the behavior of the minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) technique and compares it with the conventional cooling method. To this end, an optimized fluid application method was devised using a specially designed nozzle, by the authors, through which a minimum amount of oil is sprayed in a compressed air flow, thus meeting environmental requirements. This paper, therefore, explores and discusses the concept of the MQL in the grinding process. The performance of the MQL technique in the grinding process was evaluated based on an analysis of the surface integrity (roughness, residual stress, microstructure and microhardness). The results presented here are expected to lead to technological and ecological gains in the grinding process using MQL.     

Effects of minimizing hydrodynamic pressure in ultra-precision mirror grinding

This paper describes an investigation about the fluid delivery method that minimizes the generation of hydrodynamic pressure and that improves grinding accuracy. Traditionally, grinding fluid is delivered for the purpose of cooling, chip flushing and lubrication. Hence, numbers of conventional investigations are focused on the delivery method to maximize fluid flux into the contact arc between grinding wheel and workpiece. It is already known that hydrodynamic pressure generates due to this fluid flux, and that it affects overall grinding resistance and machining accuracy. Especially in the ultra-precision mirror grinding process that requires extremely small amount of cut per each pass, its influence on the machining accuracy becomes more significant. Therefore, in this paper, a new delivery method of grinding fluid is proposed on the point of minimizing hydrodynamic pressure effect. Experimental data indicate that the proposed method is effective not only to minimize the hydrodynamic pressure but also to improve machining accuracy.     

An investigation on surface grinding using graphite as lubricant

Grinding requires high specific energy and the consequent development of high temperature impairs workpiece quality by inducing tensile residual stress, burn, micro cracks etc. Control of grinding temperature is achieved by providing effective cooling and lubrication. Conventional flood cooling is often ineffective due to the relative inaccessibility of the fluid to the actual grinding zone, film boiling etc. Further these fluids are also a source of health hazards. Minimization and possibly the elimination of fluid coolants by substituting their functions by some other means is of current research interest. This paper deals with an investigation on using graphite as a lubricating medium to reduce the heat generated at the grinding zone. An experimental set-up has been developed for this and a detailed comparison has been done with dry and coolant flooded grinding in terms of forces, specific energy, temperature and surface finish. Results show that grinding force, energy and temperature are reduced and resultant surface finish depends on workpiece material.     

小直径磨棒磨削加工TiC颗粒增强钢基复合材料GT35

为探究TiC颗粒增强钢基复合材料GT35合理的加工参数和冷却润滑条件,研究其对切削力、表面质量及刀具磨损的影响规律,采用小直径磨棒以侧面磨削方式开展试验。结果表明:干磨削会引起磨棒烧伤,极压磨削油的润滑效果优于水基合成磨削液的;磨棒在极压磨削油润滑下,磨削工件12 min后进入稳定磨损状态,其主要磨损形式为磨粒破碎、磨粒磨耗和磨粒脱落;主轴转速对切削力的影响大于进给速度的,且转速越高,切削力越小;工件表面粗糙度主要与磨棒磨粒出露高度的平整度有关,受加工参数的影响较小。用小直径磨棒磨削加工GT35材料时,应选择极压磨削油润滑,高主轴转速、中速进给的加工方式,以获得良好的刀具寿命、工件加工表面质量及适当的加工效率。      

Improving grinding fluid delivery using pneumatic barrier and compound nozzle

Grinding fluid is commonly applied to control grinding defects caused by high grinding zone temperature. Delivery of fluid to the grinding zone is obstructed by the formation of a stiff air layer around the grinding wheel. This results in huge wastage of grinding fluid. In the present paper, results of using a pneumatic barrier and a compound nozzle are discussed with respect to delivering fluid deep into the grinding zone. Grinding fluid passing through the grinding wheel contact zone is measured under different modes of fluid delivery using a flood cooling, or a compound, nozzle, with or without the application of a pneumatic barrier. It is found that the system using a pneumatic barrier with flood cooling nozzle, and that employing a compound nozzle perform better than the flood cooling nozzle. A compound nozzle along with a pneumatic barrier renders substantially less wastage of grinding fluid even at a low flow rate of grinding fluid. Above a fluid discharge of 475 ml/min, the compound nozzle alone shows effective penetration of grinding fluid through the grinding zone. Reduction of grinding force, specific energy and roughness of ground surface are obtained after using compound nozzle fluid delivery system. Compound nozzle may be used instead of flood cooling nozzle as it improves grinding performance even using 52.5 % less discharge of grinding fluid.     

面向绿色制造的快速点磨削磨削液供给参数计算

高速／超高速磨削条件下,砂轮边缘的高速空气带会阻碍磨削液注入磨削区。空气带压力与砂轮速度的平方成正比。快速点磨削是一种新型高速／超高速磨削技术,接触区很小,实际磨削功率低,冷却及散热效果好。在分析了高速／超高速磨削砂轮周围旋转空气带动压力及速度分布特点的基础上,根据热力学原理及快速点磨削特点,分析并建立了磨削液的供给流量和供液速度的理论模型。在此基础上,建立了面向绿色制造的快速点磨削的磨削液喷嘴直径及供液压力的工程计算公式。     

Effect of cooling and lubrication conditions on surface topography and turning process of C45 steel

At present coolants and lubricants are increasingly recognized as harmful factors for environment and machine operators’ health. Industry and research institutions are looking for new means of reducing or eliminating the use of cutting fluids, both for economical and ecological reasons. This can be done if quality properties of machined surfaces and process parameters in dry and wet machining are comparable. This paper presents an investigation into the influence of cutting zone cooling and lubrication on surface roughness, waviness, profile bearing ratio and topography after turning C45 steel. Dry cutting and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) results are compared with conventional emulsion cooling. Cutting forces and their components were put under examination as well. The experimental outcomes indicate that the cooling and lubrication conditions affect significantly the investigated process and surface properties. However, the impact of the cooling and lubricating technique depends to a large extent on the applied cutting parameters, namely the cutting speed and feed rate. Turning dry or with MQL with properly selected cutting parameters makes it possible to produce better surface topography characteristics than turning with conventional emulsion cooling. Apart from improving the surface properties the MQL mode of cooling and lubrication also provides environmental friendliness.     

基于有限差分模型的磨削弧区流场动压力数值分析

磨削弧区动压力对通过磨削区磨削液的有效流量、润滑和冷却作用有重要影响。本研究基于流体动压理论,建立了磨削弧区的动压力分布数学模型,将微分方程简化至近似泊松方程形式后,采用有限差分法将连续方程离散化,得出了磨削区动压力的数值解,并提出了迭代优化算法,提高了计算效率。将砂轮特性参数纳入数学模型之中,可根据砂轮材质、砂轮与工件间隙、砂轮转速等参数预报磨削弧区的磨削液动压力分布。在此理论模型基础上,进行了验证实验,证明模型的科学性。结果表明:通过输入砂轮各项参数,该模型可以快速、准确地预报动压力的分布,为磨削加工提供参考。      

Determination and control of grinding zone temperature under cryogenic cooling

Grinding processes, though employed widely as a finishing process, have their own share of problems, like high grinding zone temperature which may lead to thermal damage to the work surface, like induction of tensile residual stresses, development of microcracks, enhanced risks of wheel loading and excessive wheel wear. Grinding fluids are applied in different forms to control such high temperature, but they are partially effective within a narrow working range; recent studies also indicate their polluting nature. cryogenic cooling, if employed properly, could control the grinding zone temperature more effectively by intensive removal of heat from the grinding zone. The present study deals with the effect of cryogenic cooling on grinding zone temperature for five commonly used steels both experimentally and computationally. Results indicate that the effectiveness of cryogenic cooling is substantial throughout the experimental domain.     

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.     

A study of the convection heat transfer coefficients of grinding fluids

By using hydrodynamic and thermal modelling, the variation of the convection heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) of the process fluids within the grinding zone has been investigated. Experimental measurements of CHTC for different grinding fluids have been undertaken and show that the CHTC depends on the grinding wheel speed and the fluid film thickness within the contact zone. The film thickness is determined by grinding wheel speed, porosity, grain size, fluid type, flow rate and nozzle size. The CHTC values are compared for a wide range of grinding regimes, including high efficiency deep grinding (HEDG), creep feed and finish grinding.