Grinding

Surface finish, also known as surface texture or surface topography, is the nature of a surface as defined by the three characteristics
of lay, surface roughness, and waviness. It comprises the small, local deviations of a surface from the perfectly flat ideal (a true
plane).

Grinding practice is a large and diverse area of manufacturing and toolmaking. It can produce very fine finishes and very accurate
dimensions; yet in mass production contexts it can also rough out large volumes of metal quite rapidly. It is usually better suited to
the machining of very hard materials than is "regular" machining (that is, cutting larger chips with cutting tools such as tool bits or
milling cutters), and until recent " machining, it is usually better suited to taking very shallow cuts, such as reducing a shaft’s
diameter by half a thousandth of an inch or 12.7 μm.

Grinding is a subset of cutting, as grinding is a true metal-cutting process. Each grain of abrasive functions as a microscopic single-
point cutting edge (although of high decades it was the only practical way to machine such materials as hardened steels. Compared
to "regular negative rake angle), and shears a tiny chip that is analogous to what would conventionally be called a "cut" chip
(turning, milling, drilling, tapping, etc.). However, among people who work in the machining fields, the term cutting is often
understood to refer to the macroscopic cutting operations, and grinding is often mentally categorized as a "separate" process. This is
why the terms are usually used separately in shop-floor practice.

Process characteristics
Advantages
 Can be used on all types of material
 Can produce extremely fine surface finishes
 Can hold dimensions to extremely close tolerances

Applications
 Surface finishing
 Slitting and parting
 De-scaling, de-burring
 Grinding and re-sharpening of tools and cutters

In surface grinding, the spindle position is either horizontal or vertical, and the relative motion of the work piece is achieved either
by reciprocating the work piece past the wheel or by rotating it. The possible combination of spindle orientations and work motions
yield four types of grinding processes.

In cylindrical grinding, the external or internal cylindrical surface of a workpiece are ground. In external cylindrical grinding (also
center-type grinding) the work piece rotates and reciprocates along its axis, although for large and long work parts the grinding
wheel reciprocates.

In internal cylindrical grinding, a small wheel grinds the inside diameter of the part. The work piece is held in a rotating chuck in the
headstock and the wheel rotates at very high rotational speed. In this operation, the work piece rotates and the grinding wheel
reciprocates.

Grinding wheels consist of hard abrasive grains called grits, which perform the cutting or material removal, held in the weak
bonding matrix. A grinding wheel commonly identified by the type of the abrasive material used. The conventional wheels include
aluminum oxide and silicon carbide wheels while diamond and CBN (cubic boron nitride) wheels fall in the category of super abrasive
wheel.

Machinery and equipment

A grindstone is a round sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools. Grindstones are usually made from
sandstone. Grindstone machines usually have pedals for speeding up and slowing down the stone to control the sharpening process.

An angle grinder, also known as a side grinder or disc grinder, is a handheld power tool used for grinding (abrasive cutting) and
polishing. The motor drives a geared head at a right-angle on which is mounted an abrasive disc or a thinner cut-off disc, either of
which can be replaced when worn. Angle grinders typically have an adjustable guard and a side-handle for two-handed operation.
Angle grinders are standard equipment in metal fabrication shops and on construction sites. They are also common in machine
shops, along with die grinders and bench grinders.

Die grinders and rotary tools are handheld power tools used for grinding, sanding, honing, polishing, or machining material (typically
metal, but also plastic or wood). Die grinders are often used for engraving, cylinder head porting, and general shaping of a part.

A bench grinder is a benchtop type of grinding machine used to drive abrasive wheels. A pedestal grinder is a similar or larger
version of grinder that is mounted on a pedestal, which may be bolted to the floor or may sit on rubber feet. These types of grinders
are commonly used to hand grind various cutting tools and perform other rough grinding.

A grinding machine, often shortened to grinder, is any of various power tools or machine tools used for grinding, which is a type of
machining using an abrasive wheel as the cutting tool. Each grain of abrasive on the wheel's surface cuts a small chip from the
workpiece via shear deformation.

Automation, metrology and quality assurance

Automating the Grinding Process
June 1, 2013 by Jim Lorincz
Whether the process is cylindrical or profile grinding, automation, which can increase cycle time, throughput, consistency of part
quality and taking real-time in-process measurements, is once again in demand. The reasons can be found in the benefits found in
typical applications and the innovative and effective forms of automation available from machine builders like United Grinding
Technologies Inc. (UGT; Miamisburg, OH), and their automation integrator of choice, Matrix Design Inc. (Elgin, IL).

“In the last five to 10 years, we’ve seen a steady rise in automation requests, from simple, straight-forward pick-and-place systems
to highly sophisticated, full-blown automated flexible grinding cells,” said Hans Ueltschi, vice president, UGT’s Cylindrical Division.
“Traditionally, as you might expect, we’ve seen automation in high-volume jobs, such as automotive applications. Lately, however,
we’re seeing more and more requests for automation in low-volume jobs—automation demanding greater flexibility. This trend for
more flexibility is spilling over to higher volume jobs as well. Automotive and Tier suppliers in particular are asking for this flexibility
when it comes to changing over from one model year to another, one part to another, or from one version of a part to another. In
the past, this wasn’t a high priority for them, because their major concern was the issue of high volumes,” said Ueltschi.

Many companies are requesting more than just part loading and unloading. “Automating grinding is becoming very complex because
it often involves integrating measuring systems, for example, and data management. In addition, automating a grinding machine is
far more difficult than automating a turning machine. You have to have great workholding, which requires much more precise part
loading than is required in turning applications. This requires a superior loading system and the ability to handle the data flow from
the post processor. In essence, the loader is in charge of the cell or process, and the loader dictates when the machine can start,
when the data flows and so forth,” said Ueltschi.

Berman said he prefers robotic automation to hard automation, like gantry loaders. “Smaller shops don’t necessarily have long-term
contracts with their customers on the parts they are supplying, so they like to take into consideration what happens in two, three, or
four years and if the contract goes away. What do these shops want to do? They want to run something different through the
machine. It’s a lot easier to repurpose a robot, and it’s a lot less expensive than it is to redesign some sort of hard automation,” said
Berman. For Matrix, the robot is just a tool, no different than a gripper or a solenoid valve. It’s just a tool they purchase, but one that
allows them to bring flexibility to a cell and make it cheaper for the customer in the long run to change parts if he has to.

Barkhausen noise analysis

The nature of Barkhausen noise was explained already in 1919 by Prof. Heinrich Barkhausen. However, the method drew the
attention for industrial applications in the beginning of 1980s. Today, it is a recognized non-destructive method for materials
characterization and heat treatment defect testing.

To understand the Barkhausen Noise Analysis (BNA), the formation of Barkhausen noise (BN) must be understood well. To create the
BN, material must be magnetized hence BNA is applicable only for ferromagnetic materials which are steel (except Austenitic),
Nickle and Cobalt and their alloys.