Forces and Specific Energy of Polyamide Grinding.

Roberto Spina,Marco Massari,Bruno Cavalcante,Roberto Rutigliano

doi:10.3390/ma14175041

Abstract

This work investigated the grinding process of reinforced and nonreinforced polyamide materials using an Al2O3 grinding wheel. Samples were ground using a custom-made setup of sensors to evaluate in-line temperature, forces, and power. The surface roughness and images were acquired to assess the quality of the final products. The novelty of the work is to correlate the energy evaluation with the process efficiency during processing. Grinding at high cutting depths achieves good surface quality indicators, such as Ra < 5 μm and Rz < 5 μm. Results also reveal that special attention should be given to the infeed speed when cutting unfilled materials to produce good results. With high values of energy partition, the specific grinding energy stabilizes around 60 J/mm³. Strains must be applied quickly because, to ensure the unfilled materials respond better at this cutting depth, the reinforced materials suffer a slight degradation of quality.

Highlights

Specific Energy of PolyamideThe automotive sector is evolving to a more environmentally friendly methodology.The development in weight reduction and electrification technologies requires substantial changes in material selection and component design [1]
Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) have become more diffuse in the industry [2], due to innovative methods of using them, such as rapid prototyping [3] or when machining is a valid alternative to traditional plastic processing for small batch production
Due to its lower water absorption, which creates a higher level of dimensional stability combined with a minor variation in the physical properties due to humidity, Polyamide 66 (PA66) is preferred over Polyamide 6 (PA6) for automotive applications

Summary

Introduction

Specific Energy of PolyamideThe automotive sector is evolving to a more environmentally friendly methodology.The development in weight reduction and electrification technologies requires substantial changes in material selection and component design [1]. Thermoplastics are a leading alternative to improve weight reductions and the overall recyclability of vehicles. Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) have become more diffuse in the industry [2], due to innovative methods of using them, such as rapid prototyping [3] or when machining is a valid alternative to traditional plastic processing for small batch production. For this reason, these materials need to fully abide by the quality standards required in the sector

Methods

Results

Conclusion