Application of high-angle helical-grooved vitrified wheels to cylindrical plunge grinding

Cylindrical plunge grinding experiments were carried out to compare the performance of non-grooved and grooved vitrified grinding wheels. The grooved wheels featured high-angle helical grooves with a 50% groove factor. Grinding forces, spindle power, workpiece roundness, and workpiece surface roughness were measured for five different infeed rates. It was observed that, for the conditions used in this research, the grooved grinding wheel reduced the resulting normal forces by 36%, tangential forces by 32%, spindle power by 29%, and specific energy by 28%, while increasing the workpiece surface roughness by 38%. The spark-in and spark-out time constants associated with the grooved grinding wheel were determined by analyzing the normal force data and found to be, on average, 21% lower than the non-grooved grinding wheel. The spark-in and spark-out time constants were also identified and used in a grinding force and infeed model to simulate the plunge grinding process. These simulations showed that, due to the combination of reduced forces and time constants when using a grooved wheel, improvements in overall plunge cycle time of up to 30% could be achievable.