Faculty of Engineering Technology

Lab BTM1114
02 BASIC MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Abrasive Cutting Process (Surface Grinding)

Prepared By:
Rusli bin Ghani
rusli@ump.edu.my
Telephone Ext:
Fakulti Teknologi Kejuruteraan, UMP

Lab Instructor
Rusli bin Ghani/Junaedi Irwan bin Wan Abdul Halim

Lab Location
General Machining Laboratory, FTeK

Lab Objectives

By the end of module, students should be able to:

Explain the grinding operation to produce a smooth finish on flat surfaces

Group Members Student ID Section

20
Ahmad Fikri B Md Shah TA18134 01A

Muhammad Shahminan Bin Lukman TA18133 01A

1. Purpose
To study the function and the type of tools used in the universal surface grinding machine.

2. Objective
• To grind the surface of a metal object.
• To learn
• about the function of the universal surface grinding machine.
• To understand the functioned the type of tools used in the universal surface grinding
machine

3. Machine:
Surface Grinding Machine

4. Tools & Equipment:

Vernier caliper, micrometer, Precision vise, Aluminium oxide grinding wheel, Wheel
balancing stand with arbor, Granite surface table, Dial test indicator (DTI), Wheel dresser,
Oil stone, etc.

5. Material:
Mild steel plate (Approximately 50mm x 100mm x 6mm). Refer to the drawing given.

6. Basic Theory
Surface grinding is used to produce a smooth finish on flat surfaces. It is a widely used
abrasive machining process in which a spinning wheel covered in rough particles (grinding
wheel) cuts chips of metallic or non-metallic substance from a workpiece, making a face of it
flat or smooth.

The surface grinder is composed of an abrasive wheel, a work holding device known as a
chuck, and a reciprocating or rotary table. The chuck holds the material in place while it is
being worked on. It can do this one of two ways: ferromagnetic pieces are held in place by a
magnetic chuck, while non-ferromagnetic and non-metallic pieces are held in place by
vacuum or mechanical means. A machine vise (made from ferromagnetic steel or cast iron)
placed on the magnetic chuck can be used to hold non-ferromagnetic workpieces if only a
magnetic chuck is available.
The typical precision of a surface grinder depends on the type and usage, however +/- 0.002
mm should be achievable on most surface grinders.
6. General planning the job
a. Study the drawing and lab sheet given. Ensure you understand them and know exactly
what has to be done to the workpiece. i.e. Has any excess material to be left on sizes
for grinding or hardening?

b. Check material for machining allowance.

c. Plan out sequence of operation. Ask yourself the following questions:

i. Can any operations be combined?
ii. Can any operation be eliminated?
iii. Is sequence the best possible?

d. Select method of working-the simplest is usually the best. Ensure it will hold the
workpiece securely.

e. Select tools – the selection to the operations to be perform, the material and the type
of machine you are operating.

7. Operations:
a. The surface grinders can be dangerous if not used correctly. Make sure you
understand the instructions and have received appropriate training before operating a
surface grinder.

b. What are the main safety rules on the use of a surface grinder?
i. Wear appropriate eye protection. In addition, lower the shield bursts of
grinding, if necessary.

ii. Make sure the button on / off the grinder is easily accessible to the operator.
iii. Check the grinding wheel before putting it in place. Ensure that it has been
well maintained and is in good working order.

iv. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for mounting of abrasive wheels.

v. Keep the face of the wheel evenly drawn.
vi. Ensure that the protective housing of the wheel cover at least half of it.
vii. Trimming the surface of the parts placed on the magnetic plate.
 viii. Clean the magnetic plate with a cloth, then wipe with the palm of the hand.
ix. Place a sheet of paper slightly larger than the room in the centre of the plate.
x. Place the piece on the paper and put the magnetic plate on.
xi. Check that the magnetic plate is turned on by trying to remove the workpiece.

xii. Make sure the wheel does not touch the room before the start.
xiii. Run a new wheel for about one minute before starting the machining of the
part.
xiv. D stand, one side of the wheel before the start.
xv. Turn off coolant before stopping wheel to avoid creating a condition of
imbalance.
xvi. Keep work area free of scraps, tools and materials.
xvii. Keep the floor around the surface grinder clean and free of oil and grease.

c. Inspect grinding wheel

i. The wheel was visually checked for cracks.

ii. “Ring” wheel. The wheel was balanced with finger through bore and tap with
a non-metallic instrument e.g.: handle of screwdriver, the hide end of hammer
etc. If the wheel is undamaged it will give a clear “RING”.

d. Mounting the grinding wheel

i. Wheel was mounted to the arbor.
ii. Flange was clamp to w.
e. Wheel balancing
i. Wheel was mounted on machine without balance weight.
ii. Wheel head was start and wheel periphery was dress.
iii. Wheel was removed from machine.
iv. Prepare balancing unit.
v. Start balancing the wheel.

f. Truing and dressing the wheel face using diamond dresser

i. Truing was an operation carried out on all newly mounted wheels. It involves
the removal of material from the cutting face of the wheel. So that the
resultant surface runs concentric to the spindle axis.

ii. Dress was carried out to maintain the wheel form and to expose new cutting
grains on the wheel face.

iii. The diamond dresser was mount on the machine table.

iv. The down feed was Applied approximately 0.05mm for truing or dress for
rough grinding.

v. Reduced the wheel head down feed to approximately 0.0012mm dressing for
finish grinding.

g. Setting the table traverse stops

i. The longitudinal was position and setting to stops.
ii. The overrun between each end of workpiece and wheel is approximately 6mm
to 12mm.

h. How to Use a Surface Grinding Machine

i. The height valve was adjusted, located on the grinder head, so that the grinder
blade is as far from the magnetized palette as possible.
 ii. The block of metal was placed to be ground on the magnetized palette.
iii. The palette lever was toggled, located near the control panel and typically
marked by a red dot. This will magnetize the palette and keep your metal
block from moving.

iv. The grinder height was readjusted so that it is approximately 50mm from the
surface of the metal block.
v. The grinder was activated. This was typically done by turning the ignition
key, then pressing the green- or red-coloured "Start" button. The grinder was
start to spinning and lower itself in a pre-set back-and-forth pattern, rotating a
half-inch back and forth until it makes contact with the surface of the metal
block.

vi. The surface of the metal was watched. If you leave the block in place, the
grinder will eventually grind it to dust. Typically, a bench grinder was used to
grind away 1.5mm of metal at most. After the metal surface had been smooth
and polished or the dimension required was achieved, the machine was turn
off and piece was removed.

8. Result & Discussion

Explain how surface grinders operate.

1) The surface grinding machine’s chuck moves back and forth once the table has
raised the object so that it’s slightly deeper within the wheel. There are intervals that can be
set (i.e. 0.001 inches / 0.0254 mm) with each pass. As the grinding wheel rotates with its
abrasive particles small amounts of the object’s material will be removed each time in
order to create a flat surface. For this reason, the surface grinding process is usually a
finishing step that’s designed to bring an object to a certain tolerance but the procedure is
often followed up with a polishing procedure during the grinding-and-lapping process.

2) The typical surface grinder has a table that is capable of moving forward and
backward as well as side to side. When moving side to side, the table uses hydraulics to
move. The machine also has a grinding wheel that rotates and has an adjustable height. The
grinding wheel is generally made of diamond, aluminum oxide, silicon carbide or cubic
boron nitride. The majority of surface grinders used in the modern era are at least partially
automated. The work material is held on the table of a magnetic chuck and sometimes an
electro-magnetic chuck depending on the specific machine.

Discuss the following:

• The various types and shapes of grinding wheels.

Types of surface grinders

➢ Horizontal-spindle (peripheral) surface grinders.
➢ Vertical-spindle (wheel-face) grinders.
➢ Vertical-spindle (wheel-face) grinders

Types of grinding wheels

➢ Aluminum oxide
➢ Silicon carbide
➢ Diamond
➢ Cubic boron nitride

• How to determine whether a grinding wheel requires dressing.

➢ Once the smoothness of the grinding wheel has become dull due to glazing and
loading, dulled grains and chips are removed (crushed or dropped) with a regular
dressing tool to make sharp cutting edges while at the same time making recesses
for chips by appropriately extruding to the cutting edges.

• The grinding wheel marking system.

• The need for so many grinding wheel shapes.
➢ Hardened steel can be cut. Parts are machined to shape with the metal in the
annealed condition, leaving only a small amount of surplus material to be
removed by grinding after hardening.
➢ Extremely smooth finishes can be produced and grinding is specified for contact
and bearing surfaces. The grinding wheel can be given considerable width and
therefore leaves no marks because of feeding it across the work.
➢ The work can be finished to accurate dimensions in a comparatively short time.
➢ On certain wheels, the cutting face is on the side of the wheel. These wheels are
usually named for their distinctive shapes.

• How to mount grinding wheels.

1. Select the proper grinding wheel and machine for the job.
2. Lock out and tag all machines before working on them. Disconnect portable
machines from their power source before changing the grinding wheel.
3. Visually inspect all grinding wheels. Also, the use of “ring testing” or “vibration
testing” is required for many grinding wheels. Never use a damaged grinding
wheel.
4. Check the machine speed against the maximum operating speed of the grinding
wheel.
5. Inspect the machine and its guards. Check the machine’s speed with a tachometer
before mounting grinding wheels.
6. Clean arbor and flanges before mounting a grinding wheel.
 7. Check the mounting flanges for proper type, size, and flange condition.
8. Use proper mounting blotters when required or supplied by the manufacturer.
9. Do not force a grinding wheel onto the mounting arbor. If the wheel does not fit,
don’t use it.
10. Don’t over-tighten the mounting nut or mounting screws. Tighten flanges just
enough to prevent wheel slippage or to machine manufacturer’s recommendation.
11. Replace all guards and reset the machine to accommodate the new grinding
wheel.
12. Wear all required personal protective equipment.
13. Allow the grinding wheel to run at operating speed for one full minute before
using the grinding wheel. Do not allow anyone to stand in front of or in line with
the grinding wheel during this test.

• Types of cutting fluids.

➢ Water: Water has high specific heat but is poor in lubrication.

➢ Soluble Oils (Emulsions): Soluble oils or emulsifiable oils are the largest type
of cutting fluids used in machining operations.
➢ Mineral Oils
➢ Straight Oils (Petroleum or Vegetable Oils)
➢ Synthetic Fluids
➢ Semi-Synthetic Fluids

• Why cutting fluids are required for most grinding operations.

➢ Reduces the effects of friction.
➢ Removes heat from the work zone.
➢ Increase material removal.
➢ Increase the material removal rate without increasing the damage to the surface
of the workpiece.

• How cutting fluids are applied.

➢ Flooding
In this method tool and workpiece are supplied with high volume of the cutting fluids
which are generally in liquid condition.

➢ Jet application
 In this method the cutting fluids which may be either gas or liquid are applied with high
pressure on the tool and workpiece.

➢ Mist application
In this method the cutting fluids are mixed with a gas (generally air) and applied to tool
and workpiece. Mist application combines the properties of above mentioned both
methods i.e. flooding and jet application.

➢ Metalworking fluid used in flood or mist applications is typically stored and distributed
utilizing an individual machine tool system or a central reservoir system. Individual
machine tools with internal cutting fluid systems consist of a sump for fluid storage, a
pump, delivery piping, a spent fluid collection and return system, and a filter to remove
contaminants. Coolant recirculates from the machine sump to the machine tool.

• Common surface grinding problems.

➢ The surface roughness of workpieces is poor.

If the coolant is not clean when filtered, please check the filtering system of
coolant and if the dressing speed of finisher is too fast or it is blunt, please
adjust the speed or replace new finisher
➢ Overly high infeed.
When grinding parts (workpieces), the process generates a great deal of heat,
which is ideally led away with the chips and the coolant lubricant. However, it
is impossible to avoid some of the heat entering the part. As long as the heat
input into the part is not too great, this poses no problems to the production
process. However, if the infeed is too high during grinding and there is
insufficient cooling, such a great amount of heat enters the part that grinding
burn occurs.
➢ Grinding with too little coolant lubricant.
So that a grinding process runs without the occurrence of grinding burn, it is
essential to ensure an adequate coolant lubricant supply to the machining zone.

• Safety rules related to surface grinding.

➢ Wear appropriate CSA-certified safety glasses and other required protective

equipment.
➢ Make sure that the grinder has a working emergency start/stop button (e-stop)
within easy reach of the operator
➢ Check the grinding wheel before mounting it. Make sure it is properly
maintained and in good working order.
➢ Keep face of the wheel evenly dressed.
➢ Make sure that the wheel guard covers at least one half of the grinding wheel.
➢ File off any burrs on the surface of work that is placed on the magnetic chuck.
➢ Clean the magnetic chuck with a cloth and then wipe with the palm of your
hand.
9.Discussion

Surface finish is an important index of machinability or grind ability because

the performance and the service life of the ground component are often affected by its s
urfacefinish, nature and extent of residual stresses and presence of superficial or sub
superficial micro cracks. The roughness of a ground component is mainly influenced by
size of abrasive grain, dressing conditions, feed rate, spark-out time and cooling
conditions. The analysis of the results obtained with the conventional cutting fluid
application system and with the MQL technique indicates that the application of cutting
fluid by MQL technique led to satisfactory results in comparison to the conventional
system, due to the more efficient penetration of the fluid into the cutting region.

9. Conclusion

Surface grinding is an abrasive machining process in which the grinding wheel removes material
from the plain flat surfaces of the work piece. In surface grinding, the spindle position is either
horizontal or vertical, and the relative motion of the work piece is achieved either by
reciprocating the work piece past the wheel or by rotating it.

10. References

1. Tool and Manufacturing Engineers Handbook (TMEH), 4th edition, Volume 1,

Machining.Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 1983.
2. Common Problems and Solutions of Parallel Surface Grinding Wheel,
www.iabrasive.com/articles/common-problems-and-solutions-of-parallel-surface-
grinding-wheel.