INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEXT GENERATION COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

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MODELING & SIMULATION OF SURFACE
GRINDING PROCESS FOR COMPARING THE
PERFORMANCE OF COOLANTS USED
Mr. Vinayak Wale
#1
, Prof. & Head R. N. Patil
*2

#
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Bharti Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of Engineering
1
vinayakwale11@gmail.com

*
Production Engineering Department,
Bharti Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of Engineering
2
rnpatil1@gmail.com

Abstract In grinding, high specific heat is generated, and
hence, appropriate control of temperature through effective flow
of grinding fluid is necessary to obtain a quality ground surface.
It is known that in conventional fluid delivery method, most of
fluid is wasted due to presence of a stiff air layer around the
grinding wheel. Cooling and lubrication are especially important
to ensure work piece quality in grinding, because of high friction
and intense heat generation involved in the process.
Conventionally, liquid coolants in flood form are employed in
grinding. However, there has been an afterthought in the usage
of fluid in this way on some technical, environmental and
economic grounds. Minimization and possibly the elimination of
fluid coolants by substituting their functions through some other
means is current research interest. Authors have investigated the
possibility of using graphite as a lubricating medium to reduce
the heat generated at the grinding zone in surface grinding with a
newly developed experimental setup. This keynote paper results
from a collaborative work within the STC G and gives an
overview of the current state of the art in modelling and
simulation of grinding processes: Physical process models
(analytical and numerical models) and empirical process models
(regression analysis, artificial neural net models) as well as
heuristic process models (rule based models) are taken into
account, and outlined with respect to their achievements in this
paper.
Keywords Grinding fluid, FEA model Grinding forces.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, grinding research has had a renewed focus on
the fundamental mechanisms at work during grinding.
Questions such as how material is actually removed from the
surface, as well as the wheel work piece contact length, are of
considerable importance from both research and industrial
perspectives. In industry, grinding is commonly used as a
finishing or semi- finishing operation. In this process, high
specific heat is generated and to dissipate this heat, large
amount of grinding fluid is commonly used [1]. The grinding
wheel, rotating at a high speed, generates a stiff air layer
around the wheel and this air layer restricts fluid to reach deep
inside the grinding zone. Grinding is a complex material
removal process with a large number of parameters
influencing each other. In the process, the grinding wheel
surface contacts the work piece at high speed and under high
pressure. The complexity of the process lies in the multiple
microscopic interaction modes in the wheel-work piece
contact zone, including cutting, plowing, sliding, chip/work
piece friction, chip/bond friction and bond/work piece friction.
Any subtle changes of the microscopic modes could result in a
dramatic variation in the process.
II. HISTORY
Grinding is the common collective name for machining
processes which utilize hard abrasive particles as the cutting
medium. As a material removal process, grinding has a long
history ever since the Stone Age. The modern abrasive
technology was only established relative recently through the
introduction of grinding machines and synthetic abrasives in
the 19th century. In general, the physics based grinding
process modeling should cover all primary aspects of grinding
process input. The methodology usually contains 2 folds: 1.
analyzing the wheel work piece interface at a microscopic
level through which the engagement condition of each single
grain with the work piece can be determined, and 2.
calculating single grain force and integrating microscopic
force tensor to the global scale. The starting point of this
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simulation is the digital wheel properties description, which
can be established through measurement, analytical modeling,
or mathematical modeling. Nowadays, grinding becomes the
most critical surface finishing process which accounts for
about 70% within the spectrum of precision machining. The
applications of grinding can be found in most industrial areas,
including aerospace, automotive, transportation, medical
devices and electronics where high surface quality and fine
tolerance are required on the components. Despite of the
industrial prominence of grinding operation, it seems that
grinding still appears to be a black art! and receives the least
understanding among all the material removal processes.

III. PROBLEM DEFINITION
Although the grinding process has been a topic of extensive
research for the last 20 years, a complete understanding of the
process has yet to be achieved. It is partly due to the fact that
grinding is a stochastic process in that a large number of
abrasive grains of random-defined geometry acts as cutting.
A realistic simulation requires that the wheel work piece
interaction is correctly modelled. However, most of the
suggested simulation schemes only considered the cutting
action of the grains, neglecting effect of coolants used. [5]
The need to predict grinding forces is essential for the
calculation of work and wheel deformations and also if the
thermal characteristics of the grinding process are to be
controlled. The grinding power, which is the product of the
tangential force and cutting speed, can be used to determine
the grinding energy required for chip formation. The majority
of the mechanical energy input is transformed into heat which
is dissipated into the work piece, chip, wheel and fluid, whilst
the remainder is used for surface formation and the generation
of residual stresses. [4]

IV. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Cooling in Grinding:
One of the major limiting factors in grinding production rates
is thermal damage. This damage can be reduced by the
application of a cutting fluid that removes the heat created by
the work piece interaction and lubricates the two surfaces in
order to decrease the amount of friction.
The most notable and severe type of work piece damage is
known as work piece burn. Burn occurs when enough heat and
energy is created by the grinding process to produce
discoloration and blemishes which can be seen on the work
piece [6]. Work piece burn, however, can occur even when no
physical flaw is observed [7]. As the surface temperature
increases the microstructure of the material can change. As the
microstructure changes, the hardness will vary. Moreover,
these variations in the structure can result in detrimental
internal stresses. Often, the resulting internal stresses of a
microstructure change leave a tensile stress on the surface of
the work which leads to a reduced fatigue life. If the material
is sensitive enough, the work piece can even crack due to the
residual stress or the localized thermal expansion from the
grinding process, which is more common in ceramics.
B. Effect of Cutting Fluid Application on the Grinding Process:
The benefits of cutting fluids are generally recognized
throughout industry. Despite this, cutting fluids are often
treated as an afterthought and given insufficient attention. It is
found that the boundary layer of air around the grinding wheel
deflects most of the grinding fluid away from the grinding
zone. A better understanding is required of the hydrodynamics
of cutting fluid delivery for the determination of cutting forces.
As mentioned earlier, cutting fluid has three main functions
when applied to the grinding process. These are bulk cooling
of the work piece, the flushing away of swarf and dislodged
wheel grits and lubrication. Bulk cooling and flushing are
reasonably understood but the lubrication effects of the cutting
fluid are less clear. Lubrication depends on fluid entering the
contact region and although a large volume may not be
necessary to achieve this purpose, fluid delivery will be
ineffective if no fluid enters the grinding zone. This
investigation was aimed at achieving a better understanding of
the effect the boundary layer has on fluid delivery.

V. SIGNIFICANCE
Based on the complex relationships between system
parameters, machining parameters, process parameters and
work results in grinding, as well as the high relevance of this
process for industrial production, the modelling and
simulation of surface grinding process for comparing the
performance of coolants used are the focus of mechanical
engineering at universities and in industry.[4]
Cutting fluid is applied to the grinding zone to limit the heat
generation. The fluid accomplishes this by reducing the
amount of friction in the grinding zone through its lubrication
properties. It also reduces heat by conducting some of the
energy into the fluid instead of the work piece. Thus, the
colder the fluid, the more effective the heat transfers. The
third and final purpose of the fluid is to flush away chips from
the grinding process. If the chips are not removed, they could
clog the wheel and essentially dull the wheel so that the only
cutting operations occurring would be plowing and rubbing. If
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this clogging were to happen, the forces and energy input
would greatly increase as would the heat input to the work
piece. When the cutting fluid is applied to the grinding zone, it
will initially undergo nucleate boiling. This process enhances
the rate of heat transfer between the work piece and the fluid.
As the temperature increases further, however, the boiling
mechanism will turn to film boiling where a vapor film is
developed between the work piece and the fluid. The vapor
acts as an insulator and prevents heat transfer to the fluid. As a
result, the work piece temperature quickly rises and burns the
surface of the material. For cooling to remain effective, it is
imperative that the temperature of the work piece does not
reach or exceed the fluids film boiling temperature. Guo and
Malkin [2] refer to the heat flux that causes the fluid to reach
the film boiling temperature as the critical burnout limit. They
developed and correlated a model for creep-feed grinding and
found that it is generally necessary to have the heat flux below
the burnout limit in order to prevent burning of metallic work
pieces.
VI. OBJECTIVE
The main characteristic of grinding in comparison to other
machining processes is the relatively large contact area
between the tool and the work piece and the high friction
between the abrasive grits and the work piece surface. This
leads to difficulties in supplying coolant to the grinding arc,
thus resulting in a high risk of thermal damage to the work
piece surface layer as well as loading and wear of the grinding
wheel. Thermo-mechanical processes in the contact zone are
defined by tribological relationships between the grain cutting
edge, the grinding wheel bonding, the work piece and the chip
as it forms, so that cooling lubrication plays a decisive role
during grinding with respect to heat generation and
dissipation. Experience has shown that in addition to coolant
type, composition and filtration, coolant supply (nozzle
position, nozzle geometry, supplied flow rate and jet
characteristics) can influence process productivity; work piece
quality and tool wear considerably. For this reason, the
development of universal and transferable criteria for coolant
system design should be the first priority. To do this
efficiently we must first develop rigorous methods for
analyzing and optimizing cooling and lubrication during
grinding.

VII. METHODOLOGY
A. Finite element models
For the successful application of grinding processes the
knowledge and control of physical process data e. g. forces,
temperature, and grinding energy is very essential. Even if
kinematic models can be used as a basis to further calculate
forces and grinding energy, the modelling of physical process
data is certainly a domain of the Finite Element Analysis, FEA.
The following sections describe the essentials of physical
model types FEA and its successful application in grinding.
Finite element grinding models simulate the mechanical forces
resulting from the grinding wheel. Generally, FEA models for
the simulation of grinding processes can be separated into
macroscopic and microscopic concepts. In most cases the
macroscopic simulation is applied in order to calculate the
influences of heat and mechanical surface pressure on the
complete work piece in terms of temperature distribution or
form deviation. The calculations are mainly based on thermo
mechanical and elasto-mechanical material characteristics.
The plastic material behaviour and the chip formation are not
considered. In contrast to that the microscopic simulation is
restricted to analyses of the working zone. Thus, mostly a
minor section of the work piece and one contacted grain is
modelled. The microscopic simulation is the most detailed
approach of the real grinding process to date. For a realistic
simulation an elasto-plastic material behaviour is considered
as well as chip formation. But for chip formation the exact
material behaviour for high strain rates must be known.
Furthermore, current computer power is not sufficient to
develop a comprehensive model of an entire grinding wheel in
microscopic simulations or to consider the chip formation in
macroscopic simulations. The obtained results show that
simulation is a suitable.

Fig. 1 Process Parameters used in grinding

Tool for the determination of the impacts caused by grinding
processes. The FEA simulation enables a better understanding
of the process and helps the user to analyze complex
experimental results. For surface grinding, several FEA
models have been developed. A three dimensional FEA work
piece model was applied by Hoffmeister to simulate the
temperature distribution during grinding. Figure 1 illustrates
the effects of different coolant supply conditions on the
temperature distribution in the work piece .It is also possible
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to calculate the longitudinal shape deviation of the work piece
after grinding. During grinding with continuous dressing a
longitudinal shape deviation was smaller by a factor of 10
than during grinding without continuous dressing.
The process parameters used in macro-scale models are shown
in Fig. 1 that schematically represents the horizontal spindle
plunge grinding process. The grinding wheel has diameter ds,
rotates at a surface velocity of vs, and is fed in to the work
piece at a velocity vw. The distance that the wheel plunges in
to a work piece of width b
w
is known as the in feed a. The
wheel work piece interaction results in an average normal
force FN, tangential forces FT, power P, and material removal
rate Q. These forces, power and material removal rate are
distributed along the contact length l
c
. Note that in thermal
modelling the contacting this sometimes represented by an
angle y, which is referred to as the heating plane angle. [1]

Fig. 2 Chip formation, plowing and sliding

The energy approach was initiated by S. Malkin more than 20
years ago [2]. It is assumed that the grains engaging with the
work piece would experience 3 stages, chip formation,
plowing, and sliding, depending on the grain work piece
engagement depth. Figure 3 demonstrates the 3 stages when
the abrasive grain interact the work piece at the specified
conditions. Therefore, the overall energy consumption is the
summation of all 3 components. Through the observation of
the grinding chip (swarf), it indicated that the work piece
material was melted and then removed in grinding, which
suggested the correlation of cutting energy consumption with
material melting energy. In his theory, cutting energy is about
75% of the melting energy for most metallic material as
indicated in Figure 2. The melting energy, for iron or steel, is
about u
ch
=13.8J/mm". And the value would change as the
material element change. The chip formation force can be
analogized from the energy consumption of chip formation.
Plowing refers to the localized deformation of the work piece
material without removal, especially as the abrasive grains
engage the work piece causing permanent plastic deformation.
And the tangential plowing force per unit width is estimated to
be 1N/mm for steels as deduced from Figure. Sliding is
associated with rubbing of dulled flattened areas on the
abrasive grain tips (wear flats) against the work piece surface.
The sliding energy is a function of the wheel wear flat area,
which is developed on the tip of all abrasive particles.

Fig. 3 The grinding process - Chip formation in grinding

B. Working on Finite element model:
A three dimensional FEA work piece model was developed in
Ansys 14 work bench to simulate the forces acting on the
grinding wheel.


Fig. 4 Engineering data used for preparation of FEA model for Grinding
wheel (Aluminium Oxide)
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Fig. 5 Engineering data used for preparation of FEA model for Plate (Work
piece AISI4140)


Fig. 6 FEA model for Grinding wheel and plate


Fig. 7 Application of Penetration during grinding process


Fig. 8 Application of rotational velocity for grinding wheel


Fig. 9 Resultant Force on grinding wheel
VIII. CALCULATION OFGRINDING FORCES FOR
DIFFERENT COOLANTS
TABLE I

COOLANT
PENETRATION (in micron !)
10 30 50
REACTION FORCE in Newton
Graphite 367.68 372.58 416.70
Molybdenum
Disulphide
305.87 306.64 342.95
Boric Acid 269.14 272.73 305.03
Zinc Phosphate 235.32 238.45 266.69
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IX. CONCLUSION
Modeling and simulation of grinding process is always
challenging due to the complexities in the process.
Understanding and modeling the physics in terms of
characterization and quantification of microscopic modes in
grinding can be a powerful tool to enhance grinding
mechanism understanding, process optimization, and
proactive design. In addition, the advancement in grinding
science understanding also promotes the innovation of
grinding technology awareness in terms of novel product and
process development. The dissertation develops the grinding
process model from a microscopic point of view, which
bridges the gap between the theoretical research and the
industrial need. In general the contribution of this research
includes:
1. The development of the research methodology to
characterize and quantify the microscopic modes in grinding
processes, which includes the fabrication process analysis
based grinding wheel modelling, FEM based microscopic
interaction analysis, and process integration. The research
methodology covers the comprehensive process phenomenon,
and correlates process technical output with input through
calculation of the micro-output measures. In addition, the
methodology also enables the investigation of the time
dependent behaviour for proactive process design as well as
optimization.
2. The objective of this paper has been to present an overview
of modelling and simulation method to calculate the grinding
forces.


















ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I Vinayak R. Wale wish to acknowledge Prof. R. N. Patil
and Bharti Vidyapeeth Deemed University, College of
Engineering for their continuing support in this research
project.
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