Performance comparison of seeded-gel and CBN grinding wheels for cylindrical plunge grinding of 100Cr6 steel

Abstract

The selection of the grinding wheel is an important step during the process planning of grinding operations, especially for high-quality small components of hardened steel. The correct choice of the grinding wheel and the proper selection of cutting parameters can provide ground surfaces with high quality and positively affect the economic aspects of the process. The present work compares the performance of seeded-gel and CBN grinding wheels in external cylindrical plunge grinding of 100Cr6 steel in a range of high peripheral speeds, where it is possible to use both grinding wheels. The comparison was made taking into account the workpiece surface roughness and indices like the grinding ratio, specific grinding energy and grinding efficiency. The use of the CBN grinding wheel resulted in lower surface roughness values than those obtained with the seeded-gel grinding wheel. For both grinding wheels, there was a tendency that increasing peripheral speed reduces the surface roughness values. The best performance of the seeded-gel grinding wheel was found at 150 mm3/min/mm, where the grinding efficiency increased with the peripheral speed, and the highest value of all the performed experiments was achieved at 80 m/s. This value was approximately three times the grinding efficiency of the CBN grinding wheel under the same cutting conditions. The highest grinding efficiency for the CBN grinding wheel was achieved at 200 mm3/min/mm and 80 m/s. The grinding efficiency of the seeded-gel wheel dropped for this cutting condition due to higher wheel wear.