Operational behaviour of graded diamond grinding wheels for end mill cutter machining

The varying related material removal rate during deep grinding of cemented carbide end mill cutters results in an unevenly wear of the grinding wheel. This study therefore presents a simulation-based model for the load-adjusted design of grinding wheels to achieve balanced radial wear, as well as an evaluation of this model. The related material removal rate along the width of the grinding wheel is determined by a Dexel based material removal simulation for different end mill geometries. Based on these results an equation is derived to adapt the abrasive layer properties to the local load differences. Three grinding wheels with different types of gradients are then manufactured by a grinding tool manufacturer based on this equation. These and two grinding wheels with constant abrasive layer properties are used for deep grinding of ten end mills each. Afterwards the radial wear of each grinding wheel is measured by a confocal microscope. An analysis of the cutting edge chipping is done to evaluate the influence on the graded grinding wheels on the cutting edge quality. It was found that a reduction of the wear difference over the grinding wheel width of 52% and an improved cutting edge quality can be achieved by using graded grinding tools. This allows the time intervals between dressing steps to be increased without compromising the accuracy of the grinding process, thus also increasing its productivity. Finally, this article shows that the presented model allows for a more balanced wear behaviour, but has to be extended by considering further factors influencing radial wear