Roughness generated in surface grinding of metals

When a metal is surface ground the roughness generated is the summation of a function of the wheel roughness and the roughness due to wheel attrition and damage to the workpiece. We identify this function here as a maximum em ,elope profile, which is fractal within certain cut off wavelengths determi ned by the dressing conditions of the wheel. Estimating the global displace ment of the binder-grit-workpiece system from the maximum envelope power sp ectra, we determine the plastic indentation of the workpiece at characteris tic length scales using simple contact-mechanical calculation. The estimate d roughness corresponds well with that recorded experimentally for hard ste el, copper; titanium and aluminium.