Microscopic Wear Characteristics of Ceramic Grinding Wheel in Creep Feed Grinding

Abstract

This paper deals with the microscopic wear characteristics of ceramic (Seeded Gel, SG) grinding wheels used in creep feed grinding. Creep feed grinding experiments with SG grinding wheels were carried out compared to rose-pink alumina (RA) grinding wheels. To clear the wear characteristics of the wheel working surface in creep feed grinding, changes in the shapes of grain cutting edges were observed by a field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). This is a self-sharpening phenomenon based on micro fractures generated on the top of SG grain cutting edges. On the other hand, large fracture and attritious wear effected RA grain cutting edges. In addition, the features of any grain cutting edges were evaluated using attritious wear flat percentage. Changes in attritious wear flat percentage of SG grits maintained constant value and were stable. From these results, the influence of wear mode of the grinding wheel on grinding characteristics parameter, such as grinding force and workpiece surface roughness, is understood.