Experimental and numerical investigation into workpiece surface topology in point grinding

Point grinding is a cylindrical grinding process where the grinding wheel axis can be tilted relative to the workpiece axis by a swivel angle to yield a point contact. This feature enables complex parts to be ground in a single set-up on a point grinding machine. In this article, the effect of the swivel angle on the workpiece surface finish was investigated experimentally and numerically for different workpiece materials. There was good agreement between the measured and predicted workpiece surface roughness values R-a with an average difference of 6.3% for the three cutting speeds tested. It was also observed that, for the grinding conditions investigated, the swivel angle does not significantly influence the resulting workpiece surface roughness.