Ultra-High Speed Grinding Using a CBN Wheel for a Mirror-Like Surface Finish

There are strong demands for a machining process capable of reducing the surface roughness of sliding parts, such as auto parts and other components, with high efficiency. In this work, we attempted to grind hardened steel to a mirror-like surface finish with high efficiency using an ultra-high speed grinding process. In the present study, we examined the effects of the work speed and the grinding wheel grain size in an effort to optimize the grinding conditions for accomplishing mirror-like surface grinding with high efficiency. The results showed that increasing the work speed, while keeping grinding efficiency constant, was effective in reducing the work affected layer and that the grinding force of a #200 CBN wheel was lower than that of a #80 CBN wheel. Based on these results, a high-efficiency grinding step with optimized grinding conditions was selected that achieved excellent ground surface quality with a mirror-like finish.