A novel approach to simulate surface topography based on motion trajectories and feature theories of abrasive grains

The method of combining simulations with experiments is used in this paper. Both traditional grinding and point grinding are considered as the research objects. The motion paths of grains in the point grinding process will completely differ from those in the traditional grinding process because of the non-zero inclination angle α. Thus, a coordinate transformation between the grinding wheel and the workpiece is performed. Then, a brand-new formation mechanism for a 3D workpiece surface is established by combining selected trajectories to simulate the formation of the surface. The interference trajectories are effectively screened by iterating over the cutting paths of all grains on the grinding wheel surface to improve the prediction accuracy for the machined surface. Both the surface features of the grinding wheel and the elastic-plastic deformation of the workpiece material are investigated and analyzed for the first time in this paper; they are considered in the motion trajectories of the abrasive grains to make the simulated grinding surface topography closer to that formed in the actual grinding process. The trend of the influence of the variable angle α on the surface roughness is obtained and analyzed. The comparison and analysis of the simulation and experimental results prove that the simulated surface quality of the grinding workpiece is consistent with that measured in a 3D microtopography analysis, and the curve shapes in the cross-section and surface roughness evaluations are also consistent. The surface quality of a grinding workpiece can be effectively predicted using this simulation method.