Abstract
This research investigated the vitrified bond CBN wheel for MQL grinding of cast iron. Grinding under the dry, MQL, and flood cooling conditions were evaluated and compared in terms of forces, surface roughness, workpiece temperature and energy partition. Compared to flood cooling, CBN MQL grinding can achieve the same level of material removal rate without increasing the grinding forces. Due to more efficient chip flushing, the surface finish under flood cooling is slightly better than that of MQL grinding. The energy partition, fraction of the energy entering the workpiece, for a vitrified CBN wheel is estimated as 68% for dry grinding, 54% for MQL grinding, and 13% for wet grinding. Experimental results show that the insufficient cooling problem of MQL grinding is not as significant using vitrified CBN wheels. This study demonstrated that CBN MQL grinding is feasible in high volume production.