A new through-feed centerless grinding technique using a surface grinder

Abstract

This paper proposes an alternative centerless grinding technique, i.e., through-feed centerless grinding using a surface grinder. In the new method, a compact centerless grinding unit, composed of a guide plate, an ultrasonic shoe, a blade, and their respective holders, is installed onto the worktable of a surface grinder, and the through-feed centerless grinding operation is performed as the workpiece located on the guide plate is fed into the space between the grinding wheel and ultrasonic shoe. The ultrasonic shoe, produced by bonding a piezoelectric ceramic device onto a metal elastic body, is tilted at a small angle so as to provide sufficient force to control the workpiece rotational motion and to feed the workpiece along its axis by the ultrasonic elliptic-vibration. In this paper, the workpiece motion control tests were carried out firstly to make sure that the workpiece rotational speed and through-feed rate can be exactly controlled by the ultrasonic shoe which is essential for performing high-precision grinding operations. Then, the effects of major process parameters such as the workpiece eccentric angle, the stock removal, the ultrasonic shoe tilt angle and the applied voltage amplitude on the machining accuracy (i.e. workpiece cylindricity and workpiece roundness) were clarified experimentally. The obtained results indicate that: (1) the workpiece rotational speed can be adjusted by changing the applied voltage amplitude, whereas its through-feed rate can be adjusted by changing both the applied voltage amplitude and the ultrasonic shoe tilt angle; (2) the optimum eccentric angle is 6°, and a larger stock removal, a smaller tilt angle, or a higher applied voltage is better for higher machining accuracy; (3) the workpiece cylindricity and roundness were improved from the initial value of 16.63 μm and 14.86 μm to the final ones of 1.49 μm and 0.74 μm under the optimal grinding conditions.