Useful fluid flow and flow rate in grinding: an experimental verification

The mathematical model of the useful flow and flow rate of grinding fluid under casting surface grinding condition has been established. A detailed assessment of the improvement in the useful flow rate of grinding fluid, which optimizes the grinding fluid supply, has been published in the International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (Modeling and simulation of useful fluid flow rate in grinding; 2014, 75 (9-12):1587-1604). However, the experiment has not been further verified. In this paper, the useful flow and flow rate of grinding fluid under casting surface grinding condition were extensively studied through experimentation. A collection device for the useful flow of grinding fluid was designed. Moreover, the influence of the speed of the grinding wheel, grinding fluid jet velocity, particle size, and bulk porosity on useful flow and useful flow rate was analyzed. Results show that experimental and simulation results differ slightly under certain grinding parameters. This difference is mainly due to the different peripheral velocities of the grinding wheel and grinding fluid jet velocities. The effect of the gas barrier layer causes the grinding fluid to penetrate the surface pore, which has different coefficients. Meanwhile, the filling coefficient is 0.5 in the simulation settings. A large filling coefficient results in a high useful flow rate. When the grinding fluid jet velocity is increased, the capability to overcome the gas barrier layer is strengthened. Thus, the filling coefficient becomes large. When the speed of the grinding wheel is low, the gas barrier layer is weak. Hence, the filling coefficient is relatively high. The distribution of the simulation results is in agreement with that of the experimental results. This condition verifies the accuracy of the mathematical model and simulation analysis of the useful flow rate of grinding fluid.