Cutting temperature and energy partitioning in grinding

The temperatures generated by abrasive machining processes are generally much higher than in other cutting processes like turning and milling. Hence, optimal and well-designed abrasive machining processes should be employed to guarantee the surface quality of finished parts and achieve damage-free surfaces and subsurfaces, desired surface roughnesses, and compressive or neutral residual stresses. Lapping, polishing, honing, and low-stress grinding enhance and improve the fatigue life of produced parts. The temperature generated via abrasive machining can lead to surface and subsurface damage, such as diffusion, softening, phase transformation, thermal expansion, and chemical reactions and oxidation, that negatively affect the performance of finished parts. This chapter considers heat generation and partitioning and further explores relationships between the process energy, selected grinding conditions, and aspects of process design to predict process temperatures and realize high process productivity or desired surface integrity.