Burn threshold of high-carbon steel in high-efficiency deep grinding

Abstract

The burn-threshold of high-carbon steel (51CrV4) in the high-efficiency deep-grinding (HEDG) process is investigated. It is found that the burn threshold in HEDG is determined by the wheel-workpiece contact length, material removal rate and wheel speed. A theoretical expression for the burn threshold has been derived, which is based on the thermal modelling for deep grinding and takes account of the grinding parameters, wheel conditions, thermal properties of the workpiece and abrasive grain, and the heat convected away by the coolant and chips. The predicted upper and lower boundaries for occurrence of workpiece burn show good agreements with the experimental observations. It is shown that burn threshold in HEDG is related to the film boiling of process coolant and the critical heat flux increases as the specific material removal rate increases. The experiments were carried out on an Edgetek five-axis computer numerical control (CNC) grinding machine, which is capable of HEDG in a relatively wide range of process parameters.