COMPUTER-SIMULATION OF THE PLUNGE CENTERLESS-GRINDING PROCESS

This paper reports the kinematic analysis of the plunge centreless grinding process considering a uniform mode of infeed. Computer simulation was carried out initially for an ideally round workpiece and regulating wheel, and the optimum set-up and process parameters such as the workpiece surface speed, the work-blade angle, the included tangent angle, etc., to minimise the out-of-roundness error on the workpiece were obtained. Further using these optimum parameters, the effect of regulating wheel and workpiece profile errors such as steps, lobes and randomness, etc., in governing the roundness error produced on the workpiece were studied. In addition, harmonic analysis of the profile produced on the workpiece was carried out to study in details the profile characteristics such as the amplitude spectrum, the dominant harmonic and the average undulation number. The results reported herein will aid manufacturing shop engineers to select set-up and process parameters properly to improve product accuracy in the plunge centreless grinding process.