A biomimetic engineered grinding wheel inspired by phyllotaxis theory

In comparison with the conventional grinding wheels (GWs), GWs with defined grain distributions (or engineered GWs) have been widely explored and studied due to the stable grain-workpiece interactions. However, in most previous studies, grains were allocated at linearly-distributed positions without any theoretical models or foundations. To fill this gap, the GW with a phyllotactic grain distribution inspired by the phyllotaxis theory in biology is proposed in this paper. By analyzing the evenness of phyllotactic pattern in the peripheral direction and expanded view, the grain distribution parameters are theoretically designed and manufactured firstly. Then, the condition of grinding fluid in the grinding zone was observed and analyzed to verify the superiority of the grinding wheel with abrasive phyllotactic pattern by using the method of finite element modeling (FEM) contrastively. Finally, to evaluate the proposed practicality of the biomimetic engineered grinding wheel, some comparative grinding experiments of grinding surface roughness and wear were conducted. In conclusion, the advantages of biomimetic engineered grinding wheel inspired by phyllotaxis theory were demonstrated and approved.