Coolant shoe development for high efficiency grinding

The combination of ultra hard abrasives and the high speed grinding process enables the fragmentation of chips into smaller size to accommodate a high er feed rate. However, the application of high efficiency grinding depends to a large extent upon the method of grinding fluid delivery. The formation of an air curtain layer around the grinding wheel prevents the entry of co olant to the grinding zone. This paper reports the characteristics of the a ir curtain layer that encompasses the grinding wheel. Also a new kind of co olant shoe is proposed and the performance output such as the grinding forc es, power flux, surface integrity, wheel wear, microstructure and applicati ons are reported. Such shoe possesses three adjustable orifice jets. The up per orifice breaks the air curtain and thus creates a vacuum enabling the s udden flow of coolant to the grinding zone. The middle orifice supply the c oolant that leads to the formation of a coolant coating on the grinding whe el. The lower orifice directly impinges onto the grinding zone. Steady and laminar flow of coolant enable an increase of the coolant velocity and ensu re the continuous supply of coolant to the grinding zone. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.