Experimental Investigation of Microcutting Mechanisms in Marble Grinding

Abstract

This paper offers an experimental study of the microcutting mechanisms in marble grinding to aid the optimization of the marble grinding process. The necessity for investigating these mechanisms is dictated by the increased use of marble in many applications and the fact that grinding and polishing processes are the dominant technologies used to meet surface finish requirements in this natural material. The experiments are aimed at the determination of the normal component of the cutting force and of the grain traces in microcutting with a single diamond grain. The investigations carried out make provisions for establishing critical grain penetration and cutting depths and allow the prediction of the normal cutting force component as a function of grain penetration speed and depth.