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Chapter 25/Grinding and Other Abrasive Processes

FIGURE 25.10 Two

types of feed motion in
external cylindrical
grinding: (a) traverse feed,
and (b) plunge-cut.

work or the wheel to improve surface finish. In plunge-cut, the grinding wheel is fed radially
into the work. Formed grinding wheels use this type of feed motion.
External cylindrical grinding is used to finish parts that have been machined to
approximate size and heat treated to desired hardness. The parts include axles, crankshafts, spindles, bearings and bushings, and rolls for rolling mills. The grinding operation
produces the final size and required surface finish on these hardened parts.
Internal cylindrical grinding operates somewhat like a boring operation. The workpiece is usually held in a chuck and rotated to provide surface speeds of 20 to 60 m/min (75 to
200 ft/min) [16]. Wheel surface speeds similar to external cylindrical grinding are used. The
wheel is fed in either of two ways: traverse feed, Figure 25.9(b), or plunge feed. Obviously, the
wheel diameter in internal cylindrical grinding must be smaller than the original bore hole.
This often means that the wheel diameter is quite small, necessitating very high rotational
speeds in order to achieve the desired surface speed. Internal cylindrical grinding is used to
finish the hardened inside surfaces of bearing races and bushing surfaces.
Centerless Grinding Centerless grinding is an alternative process for grinding external
and internal cylindrical surfaces. As its name suggests, the workpiece is not held between
centers. This results in a reduction in work handling time; hence, centerless grinding is often
used for high-production work. The setup for external centerless grinding (Figure 25.11),
consists of two wheels: the grinding wheel and a regulating wheel. The workparts, which
may be many individual short pieces or long rods (e.g., 3 to 4 m long), are supported by a rest
blade and fed through between the two wheels. The grinding wheel does the cutting,

FIGURE 25.11 External

centerless grinding.

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Section 25.1/Grinding

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FIGURE 25.12 Internal

centerless grinding.

rotating at surface speeds of 1200 to 1800 m/min (4000 to 6000 ft/min). The regulating wheel
rotates at much lower speeds and is inclined at a slight angle I to control throughfeed of the
work. The following equation can be used to predict throughfeed rate, based on inclination
angle and other parameters of the process [16]:
f r pDr N r sin I

25:11

where fr throughfeed rate, mm/min (in/min); Dr diameter of the regulating wheel, mm

(in); Nr rotational speed of the regulating wheel, rev/min; and I inclination angle of the
regulating wheel.
The typical setup in internal centerless grinding is shown in Figure 25.12. In place of
the rest blade, two support rolls are used to maintain the position of the work. The
regulating wheel is tilted at a small inclination angle to control the feed of the work past
the grinding wheel. Because of the need to support the grinding wheel, throughfeed of the
work as in external centerless grinding is not possible. Therefore this grinding operation
cannot achieve the same high-production rates as in the external centerless process. Its
advantage is that it is capable of providing very close concentricity between internal and
external diameters on a tubular part such as a roller bearing race.
Creep Feed Grinding A relatively new form of grinding is creep feed grinding,
developed around 1958. Creep feed grinding is performed at very high depths of cut
and very low feed rates; hence, the name creep feed. The comparison with conventional
surface grinding is illustrated in Figure 25.13.

FIGURE 25.13

Comparison of (a) conventional surface grinding and (b) creep feed grinding.