Application of numerical simulation to determine ability of air used in MQL method to clean grinding wheel active surface during sharpening of hob cutters

This article presents the results of experiments concerning a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)/numerical analysis of the flow of air in the grinding zone during the sharpening of the face surface of hob cutters while using the MQL method. The carrying out of a simulation allows one to determine the influence of various settings of the angle of the spray nozzle on the amount of air directly reaching the zone of contact of the grinding wheel with the workpiece, as well as the grinding wheel active surface (GWAS). In the numerical analysis, the 'SSTk-omega' model available in the Ansys CFX program was used, and to which the Kato and Lander's modification was applied. With the aim of verifying the results obtained from the basis of the numerical simulations, experimental testing was conducted. As a verification parameter, the percentage rate of grinding wheel clogging was used. The measurement of clogging was conducted by the optical method taking microscopic images of the grinding wheel active surface (GWAS) and then analysing it which the use of digital processing and image analysis. As a result of the numerical simulations, it was confirmed that the greatest effectiveness in delivering air to the contact zone of the grinding wheel with the workpiece being machined was achieved by setting the nozzle at the lowest of the angles tested (90 degrees). At the same time, the greatest efficiency in delivering air to the grinding wheel active surface was achieved by setting the nozzle at the largest of the angles tested (90 degrees). The experimental tests allowed one to state that the change in the inclination of the spray nozzle does not significantly influence the effectiveness of chip removal from the surface of the inter-granular spaces of the grinding wheel. By setting the nozzle at a 90 degrees angle, wall shear stresses tau(w)have a decisive influence on cleaning the GWAS, while at an angle of 30 degrees the cleaning function is taken on by air being delivered directly into the contact zone of the grinding wheel with the face surface of the hob cutter being sharpened. A comparison of the percentage rates of grinding wheel clogging obtained from using the flood method (WET), as well as the MQL method, indicates the insufficient cleaning ability of the MQL method. A solution to this problem may be the application of additional cleaning nozzles employing streams of compressed air (CA) or cold compressed air (CCA).