A Versatile Method to Determine Thermal Limits in Grinding

This paper discusses a physical based method to determine limits with regard to the thermal impact of grinding processes on the machined workpiece surface layer. The thermal limits can be identified by analyzing the specific grinding power Pc” and the contact time Δt between the grinding wheel and the workpiece. This approach will be exemplarily applied to grinding regimes during which intended phase transformations by grind-hardening and undesired grinding burn during shallow-cut grinding processes are generated. Theoretical analyses of Malkin's burning limit show that it can also be expressed as a function between Pc” and Δt on a double logarithmic scale. Moreover, an extension of Malkin's burning limit is proposed in such a way that it can be applied to describe grind-hardening results in a physical based manner.