Numerical and experimental investigation on temperature field during belt grinding considering elastic contact

Abstract

Belt grinding is an important method for precision machining of complex curved components own to its elastic contact characteristics. However, the grinding heat is easy to accumulate in workpieces and results in thermal damages when grinding narrow curved surfaces, such as air inlet and exhaust sides of aeroengine blade. This study developed a numerical thermal model during belt grinding based on a moving parabolic heat source method considering elastic contact, grinding zone shape and nonuniformity of heat source. It is revealed that the maximum grinding temperature of 40 HA contact wheel is decreased by 33.1% compared with that of 90 HA contact wheel, and grinding temperature of curved surfaces is unevenly distributed in the elliptic-shape grinding zone. Besides, as the curvature radius of workpiece increases, the grinding temperature is decreased, and the maximum temperature of transverse grinding is decreased by 39% compared with that of longitudinal grinding. Systematic temperature measurements of Inconel 718 belt grinding show that the simulated results agree well with the experimental results, and the average prediction error is 7.68%. The research can provide an important theoretical basis for the high-performance belt grinding of complex curved parts.