Effective thermal properties of grinding wheels and grains

Abstract

The thermal properties of the grinding wheel are required for energy partitioning in grinding. This paper describes an investigation of the effective thermal properties of alumina and cubic boron nitride (CBN) grinding wheels. Results are presented for a novel sensor that was designed to measure the bulk thermal properties of grinding wheel samples. The effective bulk thermal properties of the grinding wheel and the effective thermal properties of the abrasive grains were also investigated. It was found that the bulk thermal property is dominated by the properties of the bond and does not account for the improved thermal performance of CBN compared with alumina. Values of the effective thermal conductivities for alumina and CBN abrasive grains are therefore proposed. It is concluded that the effective thermal conductivity of the grains is best obtained inversely from grinding experiments.