Papers by Author: Ioan Marinescu

Abstract: Fluids have an important role in grinding. Correct fluid application results in enhanced process stability, better work piece quality, and tool life. This paper shows that Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models can be used to simulate the fluid flow and heat transfer in a grinding process, replacing numerous experiments that are expensive, time-consuming, and have limited capabilities. The most important properties of created 3-D model are described, along with results obtained. The results show very detailed distributions of temperatures, pressures, and flow rates in and around the grinding region. The data obtained is essential in studying the influence of the grinding fluid on the grinding process, as well as in determining the best fluid composition and supply parameters for a given application. The results agree well with experimental global flow rates and temperature values and show the feasibility of 3-D CFD-based simulations in grinding applications. The parametric studies of influence of several fluid physical properties on useful flow rates and temperatures were presented as well.

Abstract: Over the last three decades, researchers have responded to the demands of industry to manufacture mechanical components with geometrical tolerance, dimensional tolerance, and surface finishing in nanometer levels. The new lapgrinding process developed in Brazil utilizes lapping kinematics and a flat grinding wheel dressed with a single-point diamond dresser in agreement with overlap factor (U_d) theory. In the present work, the influences of different U_d values on dressing (U_d = 1, 3 e 5) and grain size of the grinding wheel made of silicon carbide (SiC = 800, 600 e 300 mesh) are analyzed on surface finishing of stainless steel AISI 420 flat workpieces submitted to the lapgrinding process. The best results, obtained after 10 minutes of machining, were: average surface roughness (Ra) 1.92 nm; 1.19 µm flatness deviation of 25.4 mm diameter workpieces and mirrored surface finishing. Given the surface quality achieved, the lapgrinding process can be included among the ultra-precision finishing processes and, depending on the application, the steps of lapping followed by polishing can be replaced by the proposed abrasive process.