Macroscopic simulation of the liner honing process

Abstract The form quality, the roughness and the surface appearance produced by honing minimizes the friction of the piston in the liner. The process is however mechanically complex and the selection of the process parameters is currently based on empirical methods. The aim of this paper is thus to develop a macroscopic simulation environment of complete real honing cycles, which will help end-users during the setting-up. This virtual tool is based on a space–time discretization and a macroscopic cutting model taking into account local contacts between the workpiece and the abrasive tool. The space–time discretization allows representing the machine environment with the tool, the workpiece and the kinematics. Simulation results are finally validated by comparison with industrial experiments.