ABSTRACT
Grinding, in comparison to turning or milling, is often considered somewhat of a “black art,” where wheel life and cycle times cannot be determined from standard tables and charts. Certainly precision grinding, being a finishing process with chip formation at submicron dimensions occurring by extrusion created at cutting edges with extreme negative rake angles, is prone to process variability such as chatter, system instability, coolant inconsistency, etc. Nevertheless, with grinding equipment in a competent state of repair, performance can be controlled and predicted within an acceptable range. As important, rules and guidelines are readily available to the end user to modify a process to allow for system changes. It is also essential to ensure surface quality of the parts produced. These objectives are balanced through an analysis of costs as described in subsequent chapters on economics and on centerless grinding. The importance of the grinding parameters presented below is to provide an understanding of how process adjustments change wheel performance, cycle time, and part quality.
