CBN-GRINDING WHEEL WITH A DEFINED GRAIN PATTERN – EXTENSIVE NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

This paper presents numerical and experimental investigations of a superabrasive electroplated grinding wheel with a defined CBN grain pattern and a standard superabrasive grinding wheel with a stochastic grain distribution. Concerning the numerical studies, kinematic simulations for different process parameters are performed. Thereby, the grinding wheel wear was numerically considered by decreasing the grain protrusion height by a numerical dressing process. The experimental studies concentrate on dry and wet (down and up) grinding operations of hardened heat-treated steel using material removal rates of up to /mms. Furthermore, the performance limits of the grinding wheel with a defined grain pattern are tested during wet up-grinding. Thereby, a good process behavior occurred up to a specific material removal rate of /mms. A main part of the experimental investigations are the macroscopic (radial wheel wear) and microscopic (grain wear, average grain protrusion height) wear studies of the grinding wheel with a defined grain pattern. As a promising progress, the numerical and experimental results of the grinding wheel with a defined grain pattern could be used to combine experimental process behavior with simulated chip parameters.