Effect of cutting edge truncation on ductile-regime grinding of hard and brittle materials

Abstract

Cutting edge truncation is a micro-truing process in which the diamond cutting edges of a grinding wheel are truncated and aligned at the same height. This process has been applied to the ultraprecision grinding of hard and brittle materials in order to improve the ground surface roughness. However, the theoretical investigation has not been clarified. In this study, computer simulation of surface plunge grinding has been performed. It is found that a surface roughness in the nanometer order can be generated by the truncation of a coarse-grained grinding wheel, but the contribution of such truncation to a decrease in the maximum grain depth of cut is insufficient. Thus, the proper selection of a fine-grained grinding wheel as well as suitable grinding conditions are necessary for ductile-regime grinding, which requires the maximum grain depth of cut to be less than a value realising ductile-mode material removal.