Effect of fluid application conditions on grinding behaviour

Abstract

Applying copious amounts of fluid to ensure adequate lubrication and cooling during grinding creates environmental and safety hazards. The present investigation was undertaken to explore the prospects for reducing the amount of applied fluid without having a deleterious effect on grinding performance. Straight surface grinding experiments were conducted to determine the effect of fluid flowrate and nozzle set-up conditions on the grinding behaviour for both up grinding and down grinding. A high-speed camera was used to observe fluid access to the grinding zone. For up grinding at low flowrates, lack of fluid reaching the wheel and workpiece caused an increase in the forces and surface roughness. The effect of a low flowrate was much less pronounced for down grinding due to the presence of residual fluid, which had collected on the workpiece top surface. A simple fluid mechanics model was developed to determine the flowrate and nozzle set-up condition required for the fluid to reach the wheel and the workpiece.