CONTACT LENGTH IN GRINDING .1. CONTACT LENGTH MEASUREMENT

The nature of the contact behaviour between a grinding wheel and a wor kpiece in the grinding process was investigated by measurement and a m odel evaluation. In Part 1 of this paper measurement methods for asses sment of contact length were investigated. The applied power source (A PS) method was judged to give the most reliable measurement of contact length. The interpretation of contact length measurements is discusse d. The contact signal can be distinguished in three stages which may c orrespond to the action of an active grain through the contact zone: c utting, ploughing and rubbing. The definition of contact length in gri nding is discussed and it is found that it is difficult to use a singl e value to represent it. The measured results confirm that the measure d contact length in grinding is considerably longer than the geometric contact length. There is considerable evidence that the measurements represent rear contact phenomena.