Comparison of Power in CBN Grinding of Steels and Stone

The present study was undertaken to compare the consumed power in surface grinding of three different materials with a vitrified CBN wheel. High speed steel, stainless steel, and natural granite were used as the workpiece materials in the experiments. Two different depth of cut and workpiece velocity were combined to give different material removal rates. The spindle power was in-process monitored in each pass of grinding. The radius wear of the grinding wheel was also measured and the morphologies of CBN grains were observed during the grinding of high speed steel and granite. The power for the grinding of high speed steel was found to be the lowest under any operating parameters. For other two materials, the results became complex. At shallower depth of cut, the power for the grinding of stainless steel was higher in most cases. However, the power for the grinding of granite was higher under larger depth of cut. It was found that the grinding wheel failed much earlier in the grinding of granite as compared with the grinding of high speed steel.