Basic Properties of Coolant Supply Using a Coolant Flow Guided Flexible Sheet

In order to improve the floating nozzle method, a new coolant supply method using a coolant flow guided flexible sheet has been developed. In this paper, basic properties of the coolant supply when the coolant flow guided flexible sheet method is used are investigated. At first, the phenomenon of automatic adherence of the flexible sheet to the wheel surface is observed with a high-speed camera. Next, the effect of the clearance between the sheet and the wheel surface is experimentally investigated. It is found that the thickness of the coolant flow in this clearance is very small as about 0.1mm, and can be controlled to some extent by controlling the coolant flow rate and wheel rotation speed. Furthermore, it is clarified that the influence of the flexible sheet on the electric power consumption of the main spindle motor is small.