Development of the intelligent cylindrical grinding system considering the thermal deformation of a workpiece

In cylindrical grinding, the size accuracy of a workpiece decreases due to the thermal deformation of the ground workpiece. To improve the size accuracy, it is necessary to consider the thermal deformation of the workpiece during grinding process. In this study, we have developed an intelligent grinding system that can consider the thermal deformation of the workpiece. In this system, the thermal deformation of the workpiece during grinding process is simulated by measuring tangential grinding force. The net stock removal, that is the stock removal measured after the workpiece has been cooled, is estimated by adding the measured stock removal and the simulated thermal deformation of the workpiece. To achieve the grinding process with high accuracy, the grinding wheel is retracted when the net stock removal is reached to the grinding allowance. Using this intelligent grinding system, grinding experiments were carried out. In these experiments, the size error was reduced less than 0.3μm in radius even though the thermal deformation was more than 2μm in radius. With grinding experiments, it was confirmed that the developed grinding system could improve the size accuracy successfully.