Surface Generation with Engineered Diamond Grinding Wheels: Insights from Simulation

Engineered wheels are a recent innovative development towards consistent and exceptional performance in fine grinding operations. Abrasive grains in an engineered wheel are positioned in a specific spatial pattern, as opposed to random locations in a conventional wheel. The present work relates to the formulation of a theoretical framework for the design of engineered wheels In terms of maximizing their performance with respect to their surface generation characteristics. Computer simulations Indicate that: (I) The distribution of abrasive protrusion height, rather than Its absolute maximum value, determines the roughness of the ground surface and controls the associated variability, and therefore by tailoring the distribution appropriately, the performance of the wheel can be improved significantly, (II) With an ordered arrangement of abrasive grains, the finish obtained is a strong function of the axial offset between adjacent rows of grains, but the best finish achieved thus is only on the order of that obtained with a conventional wheel, and (III) The effect of grain shape on the roughness of the ground surface is comparable to the Inherent process variability.