Analysis of the effects of dressing and wheel topography on grinding process under different coolant-lubricant conditions

The grinding performance is defined significantly by grinding wheel preparation. Besides the required grinding wheel profile, the dressing process must produce appropriate wheel topography. Resultant wheel topography influences the workpiece surface roughness and surface morphology by the number and shape of the kinematical edges, the pore volume, and the wear behavior of the abrasive layer. Grinding is recognized as one of the most environmentally unfriendly manufacturing processes. The use of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is of great significance in conjunction between large cutting fluids application and dry machining. In this study, for the first time, the effect of dressing parameters and wheel topography on MQL grinding performance of soft steel is investigated. In other words, to generate different grinding wheel topographies, depth of dressing and dressing speed have been changed during dressing and conditioning of vitrified Al2O3 wheels using single-point diamond dresser. After dressing of grinding wheels, machining tests have been conducted to study the influence of the wheel topography and coolant-lubricant types on the performance of grinding operation. Performance indicators included the following: workpiece surface quality, grinding forces, and wheel loading. The tests have been performed in the presence of fluid, MQL with compressed air, MQL with argon, as well as, in dry condition. The results indicate that enhanced grinding performance can be obtained while grinding under MQL with argon and compressed air and finer dressing conditions in comparison to other coolant-lubricant environments.