An Analysis of Centerless Grinding

Abstract

Centerless grinding has grown enormously in importance in the last 30 years, until today it is a standard production technique. Instead of the work being supported between centers, as in the older cylindrical grinding, it is supported by means of contact with the grinding wheel, the regulating wheel, and the work blade. In this paper, the methods of analysis already developed and used to examine other machining processes [1, 2] are extended and applied to centerless grinding. Unfortunately, a centerless grinding machine was not available, so it was not possible to apply the analysis to an actual case. The problem was, however, set up on an analog computer, and the effect of changes in various parameters on the stability evaluated. In the light of the results obtained from the computer study the reasons for a number of features of machine-shop practice, evolved by trial and error, can be explained, giving every reason to believe that the analysis is a realistic one. In addition to the stability of the process, the transient behavior inevitably associated with infeed grinding is considered.