Fast Time Constant Estimation for Plunge Grinding Process Control

The time constant of a grinding control system indicates the speed of response to a control command and reflects variations of the wheel condition. In order to allow correct and continuous control adjustment, fast in-process estimation of the parameter is necessary. The significance of the grinding system time constant is discussed and the control system for the plunge grinding process described. An algorithm,for fast time constant estimation is presented for adaptive control of the grinding process. The algorithm is useful for geometry-based grinding control systems where a workpiece size sensor is used and multiple control tasks are implemented Experimental testing of the algorithm is explained and comparison between results from grinding and those from analysis shows that the proposed algorithm is sufficiently accurate and effective for adaptive control of the plunge grinding process. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved