IPE 331: Production Processes

Lecture sheet-3

GRINDING & RELATED OPERATIONS

Grinding
The grinding process consists of removing material from the work-piece by the use of a
rotating wheel that has a surface composed of abrasive grains. Grinding is considered to be
the most accurate of the existing machining processes. Grinding processes are used when
high accuracies, close dimensional tolerances, and a fine surface finishes are required. Hard
materials can also be machined.

Grinding Machines

Wheel guard

Wheel head

Work table

Column

Workpiece
Saddle

Bed

Fig: Horizontal spindle reciprocating table surface grinder

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Fig: Vertical spindle reciprocating table surface grinder

Cutting conditions in grinding

The cutting velocity V in grinding is very high. It is related to the rotational speed of the
wheel by, V = DN, where D is the wheel diameter, and N is the rotational speed of the
grinding wheel.
Depth of cut d is called infeed and is defined
as the distance between the machined and
work surfaces.
As the operation proceeds, the grinding wheel
is fed laterally across the work surface on
each pass by the workpart. The distance at
which the wheel is fed is called a crossfeed.
The crossfeed is actually the width of cut w.
The crossfeed multiplied by infeed
determines the cross-sectional area of cut,
CSA = crossfeedinfeed = wd
The cross-sectional area in grinding is
relatively small compared to other machining
operations The workpart moves past the
wheel at a certain linear or rotational velocity called a feed Vw.
The material removal rate, MRR, is defined by MRR = Vwwd

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Common Grinding Wheels

A grinding wheel is made of abrasive grains held together by a bond. These grains cut like
teeth when the wheel is revolved at high speed and is brought to bear against a work piece.
The properties of a wheel that determine how it acts are the kind and size of abrasive, how
closely the grains are packed together and amount of the bonding material.

Grinding Wheels-Designation and selection

A grinding wheel is made of abrasive grains held together by a bond. These grains cut like
teeth when the wheel is revolved at high speed and is brought to bear against a work piece.
The properties of a wheel that determine how it acts are the kind and size of abrasive, how
closely the grains are packed together and amount of the bonding material.
The way the abrasive grains, bonding material, and the air gaps are structured, determines
the parameters of the grinding wheel, which are

abrasive material,
grain size,
bonding material,
wheel grade, and
wheel structure.

To achieve the desired performance in a given application, each parameter must be

carefully selected.

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1)

Abrasive material:

These are hard materials with adequate toughness which act as cutting edges for a
sufficiently long time. They also have the ability to fracture into smaller pieces when the for
force increases, which is termed as friability. This property gives the abrasives the
necessary self sharpening capability. The abrasives that are generally used:
Abrasives
Aluminum-Oxide..
Silicon-Carbide..
Cubic-Boron-Nitride..
Diamond
2)

Work material
hardened steels, HSS, steels, cast iron
HSS, cemented carbides, aluminum, brass, brittle materials
tool steels, aerospace alloys
ceramics, cemented carbides

Grain size:

Compared to a normal cutting tool, the abrasives used in a grinding wheel are relatively
small. The grain size of the abrasive particle is an important parameter in determining
surface finish and material removal rate. Small grit sizes take a very small depth of cut and
hence provide a better surface finish while larger grain sizes permit larger material
removal rates. The abrasive grains are classified in a screen mesh procedure. In this
procedure smaller grit sizes have larger numbers and vice versa. Grain sizes used in
grinding wheels typically range between 6 and 600. Grit size 6 is very coarse and size 600
is very fine. Finer grit sizes up to 1000 are used in some finishing operations.

3)

Bond

The bonding material holds the abrasive grains and establishes the shape and structural
integrity of the grinding wheel. Desirable properties of the bond material include strength,
toughness, hardness, and temperature resistance. Bonding materials commonly used in
grinding wheels include the following:
Vitrified bond: Vitrified bonding material consists chiefly of ceramic materials. Most
grinding wheels in common use are vitrified bonded wheels. They are strong and rigid,
resistant to elevated temperatures, and relatively unaffected by cutting fluids;
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Rubber bond: Rubber is the most flexible of the bonding materials. It is used as a bonding
material in cutoff wheels;
Resinoid bond: This bond is made of various thermosetting resin materials. They have
very high strength and are used for rough grinding and cutoff operations;
Shellac bond: Shellac-bonded grinding wheels are relatively strong but not rigid. They are
often used in applications requiring a good finish;
Metallic bond: Metal bonds, usually bronze, are the common bond material for diamond
and CBN grinding wheels. Diamond and CBN abrasive grains are bond material to only the
outside periphery of the wheel, thus conserving the costly abrasive materials.
4)

Grade:

The grade is also called the hardness of the wheel. This designates the force holding the
grains. The grade depends on the kind of bond, structure of wheel and amount of abrasives.
Harder wheels hold the abrasive grains till the grinding for increases to a great extent.
Denoted by A to Z.
Soft wheels are generally used for hard materials and hard wheel for soft materials.

5)

Structure

The wheel structure indicates spacing of the abrasive grains in the wheel. It is measured on
a scale that ranges from open to dense, generally denoted by numbers. Open structure
means more pores and fewer grains per unit wheel volume, and vice versa.
The spacing between the grains allows the chips to collect. This helps avoiding the loading
of grinding wheel. Open structure are used for high stock removal and consequently
produce rough surface. While denser structure is used for better surface finish and
dimensional precision.

Shape and size of grinding wheel

Grinding wheels are marked with a standardized system of letters and numbers, which
specifies the parameters of the grinding wheel.
Grinding wheels are available in a variety of shapes and sizes the most popular shown in
the figure:

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Identifying Grinding Wheels

Standard Marking System for Aluminum-Oxide and Silicon-Carbide Bonded Abrasives

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Standard Marking System for Cubic-Boron-Nitride and Diamond Bonded Abrasives

Grinding Operations
Three types of grinding based on the type of surface produced,
1) Surface grinding
2) Cylindrical grinding
3) Centreless grinding
Surface grinding
Surface grinding is most common of the grinding operations. A rotating wheel is used in
the grinding of flat surfaces. Types of surface grinding are vertical/horizontal spindle and
rotary/reciprocating tables.

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Cylindrical grinding
Cylindrical grinding (external) is also called center-type grinding and is used in the
removing the cylindrical surfaces and shoulders of the workpiece. Both the tool and the
workpiece are rotated by separate motors and at different speeds. The axes of rotation tool
can be adjusted to produce a variety of shapes.
Cylindrical grinding (Internal) is used to grind the inside diameter of the workpiece.
Tapered holes can be ground with the use of internal grinders that can swivel on the
horizontal.

Three types of feed motion are possible according to the direction of feed motion,
Traverse feed grinding (also through feed grinding, cross-feeding) in which the
relative feed motion is parallel to the spindle axis of rotation.
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Plunge grinding in which the grinding wheel is fed radially into the workpiece.
A combination of traverse and plunge grinding in which the grinding wheel is
fed at 45o to grind simultaneously the cylindrical part of the workpiece and the
adjacent face. This methods provides a precise perpendicular mutual position of
both surfaces.

Centerless grinding
Centerless grinding is a process for continuously grinding cylindrical surfaces in which the
workpiece is supported not by centers or chucks but by a rest blade. The workpiece is
ground between two wheels. The larger grinding wheel does grinding, while the smaller
regulating wheel, which is tilted at an angle i, regulates the velocity V f of the axial
movement of the workpiece. Centerless grinding can also be external or internal, traverse
feed or plunge grinding. The most common type of centerless grinding is the external
traverse feed grinding, illustrated in the following figure.

Typical parts made by centerless grinding are roller bearings, piston pins, shafts, and
similar components. Parts with variable diameters, such as bolts, valve tappets, and
distributor shafts, can be ground by plunge centerless grinding. Sleeve-shaped parts and
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rings can be ground by the internal centerless grinding, in which the workpiece is
supported between three rolls and is internally ground.

Creep-feed grinding
Grinding has traditionally been associated with small rates of material removal and
finishing operations. However, grinding can also be used for large-scale metal removal
operations similar to milling, shaping, and planing. In creep-feed grinding, the depth of cut
d is as much as 6mm, and the workpiece speed is low (1 to 0.025 m/min). The wheels are
mostly softer grade resin bonded with open structure to keep temperatures low and
an improved surface finish.. Creep-feed grinding can be economical for specific
applications, such as grinding cavities, grooves, etc.
In the creep feed process, the idle time (stopping the wheel and table reversal) gets
reduced since the grinding operation is completed in one pass.
The cutting forces and consequently the power requirement increases in the case of creep
feed grinding. It is necessary to continuously dress the grinding wheel (to reduce the wheel
dullness) for efficient operation. This however causes wheel wear and makes it necessary
to adjust the wheel head.
The grinding fluids used are oil based I view of the low grinding speeds employed.
However, the volume of grinding fluid is much more compared to conventional grinding in
view of the high heats generated in the process.

Figure: (a) Schematic illustration of the creep-feed grinding process. Note the large wheel depth of
cut. (b) A shaped groove produced on a flat surface in one pass by creep-feed grinding. Groove
depth can be on the order of a few mm. (c) An example of creep-feed grinding with a shaped wheel.

Other Finishing Operations

Achieve surface finish up to mirror like
Very close dimensional precision
Assigned as the last operation after conventional and abrasive machining process
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Honing
Honing is a finishing operation used to improve the form tolerance of an internal
cylindrical surface in particular, it is used to improve the cylindricity.
The honing tool is a metal bar holding a set of grinding stones arranged in a circular
pattern. The tool brushes along the cylindrical part surface by rotating and moving up-anddown along its axis.
You can identify a honed surface by looking for the helical cross-hatched scratch marks on
the part surface.

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Superfinishing
Superfinishing is a finishing operation similar to honing, but it involves the use of a single
abrasive stick. The reciprocating motion of the stick is performed at higher frequency and
smaller amplitudes. Also, the grit size and pressures applied on the abrasive stick are
smaller. A cutting fluid is used to cool the work surface and wash away chips.
In superfinishing, the cutting action terminates by itself when a lubricant film is built up
between the tool and work surface. Thus, superfinishing is capable only of improving the
surface finish but not dimensional accuracy.The result of these operating conditions is
mirror like finishes with surface roughness values around 0.01 m. Superfinishing can be
used to finish flat and external cylindrical surfaces.

Fig: Schematic illustration of the superfinishing process for a cylindrical part:

(a) Cylindrical (b) Centerless.
Lapping
Lapping is a finishing operation. The lapping tool is made of metal, leather, or cloth,
impregnated with very fine abrasive particles. For preparing the surface of silicon wafers,
lapping operations use a flat metal disc that rotates a small distance above the part.
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The gap is filled with slurry containing fine abrasive grains. The rotation of the disc causes
the slurry to flow relative to the part surface, resulting in very fine surface finish. This
process gives dimensional tolerances of 0.5m, and surface finish of up to 0.1 m.

The process is employed to get:

Extreme accuracy of dimension
Correction of minor imperfection of shape
Refinement of the surface finish
Close fit between mating surfaces.

(a) Schematic illustration of the lapping process.

(b) Production lapping on flat surfaces.
(c) Production lapping on cylindrical surfaces.

Polishing and buffing

Polishing is a finishing operation to improve the surface finish by means of a polishing
wheel made of fabrics or leather and rotating at high speed. The abrasive grains are glued
to the outside periphery of the polishing wheel. Polishing operations are often
accomplished manually. Buffing is a finishing operation similar to polishing, in which
abrasive grains are not glued to the wheel but are contained in a buffing compound that is
pressed into the outside surface of the buffing wheel while it rotates. As in polishing, the
abrasive particles must be periodically replenished. Buffing is usually done manually,
although machines have been designed to perform the process automatically.
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Polishing is used to remove scratches and burrs and to smooth rough surfaces while
buffing is used to provide attractive surfaces with high glossy finish.

Wheel defects
Major and inevitable defects in grinding are glazing of grinding wheels. After the
continuous use grinding wheel becomes dull or glazed. Glazing of the wheel is a condition
in which the face or cutting edge acquires a glass like appearance. That is, the cutting points
of the abrasives have become dull and worn down to bond. Glazing makes the grinding face
of the wheel smoother and that stops the process of grinding. Sometimes grinding wheel is
left loaded. In this situation its cutting face is found being adhering with chips of metal.
The opening and pores of the wheel face are found filled with workpiece material particles,
preventing the grinding action. Loading takes place while grinding workpiece of softer
material.

Wheel dressing and truing

Dressing: The remedy of glazing and loading is dressing of grinding wheels. Dressing
removes the loading and breaks away the glazed surface so that sharp abrasive particles
can be formed again ready for grinding. Different type of dressing operations are done on a
grinding wheel. Dressing therefore produces micro-geometry. The structure of microgeometry of grinding wheel determines its cutting ability with a wheel of given
composition. Dressing can substantially influence the condition of the grinding tool.
Truing: Truing is the act of regenerating the required geometry on the grinding wheel,
when, it becomes worn and break away at different points. Therefore, truing produces the
macro-geometry of the grinding wheel. Truing makes the wheel true and concentric with
the bore. Truing is also required on a new conventional wheel to ensure concentricity with
specific mounting system. In practice the effective macro-geometry of a grinding wheel is of
vital importance and accuracy of the finished workpiece is directly related to effective
wheel geometry.

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Truing and dressing are commonly combined into one operation for conventional abrasive
grinding wheels, but are usually two distinctly separate operation for superabrasive wheel.

Wheel Balancing
Due to continuous used a grinding wheel may become out of balance. It con not be balanced
either by truing or dressing. Here it is important to explain the meaning of a balanced
wheel. It is the coincidence of centre of mass of wheel with it axis of rotation.
Wheels which are out of balance produce poor quality of surface and put undue strains on
the grinding machine. Balancing of wheel is normally done at the time of its mounting on
the grinding machine with the help of moving weights around a recessed flange.

Grinding time estimation (horizontal axis)

A surface grinding operation with a horizontal axis grinding machine is shown in the
following figure. The grinding wheel will have to traverse beyond the actual workpiece by a
distance termed as a the approach allowance, A which is given by the following equation.

D

2

D
d
2

15

d Dd

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G. Wheel

Workpart

The value of the approach distance is very small since the depth of cut d is very small in
grinding. However, to allow for the table reversal at each end of the table stroke, the radius
of the grinding wheel is assumed as the approach allowance.
Length Diameter
Thus the time for one pass
Table feed rate
Number of passes required

Width
Crossfeed rate

Grinding time estimation (Vertical axis)

A surface grinding operation with a vertical axis grinding machine is shown in the
following figure. The grinding wheel will have to traverse beyond the actual workpiece by a
distance termed as a approach allowance, A which is given by the following equation.

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The value of the approach distance is very small since the depth of cut d is very small in
grinding. However, to allow for the table reversal at each end of the table stroke, the radius
of the grinding wheel is assumed as the approach allowance.
Thus the time for one pass

Length A
Table feed rate

Mathematical problems
Example 1: Using a horizontal axis surface grinder a flat surface of C 65 steel of size 100 *
250 mm is to be ground. The grinding wheel used is 250 mm in diameter with a thickness
of 20mm. Calculate the grinding time required. Assume a table speed of 10 m/min and
wheel speed of 20 m/s.
Solution:
The approach distance =125 mm
250 250
0.05 minutes
Time for one passs=
10 1000
Assuming an infeed rate of 5 mm/pass number of passes required= 100/5=20.
Total grinding time= 20 * 0.05=1 minutes.

Example 2: For the above example, if a vertical axis surface grinder is to be used, calculate
the grinding time. The wheel to be used is 200 mm in diameter with a wheel thickness of 20
mm.
Solution:
Given, W= 100 mm and D=200 mm
Here, W=D/2
So, The approach distance, A =D/2=100 mm
250 200
0.045 minutes
Total grinding time =
10 1000

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