Influence of polymer contacting rollers on surface texture finish in the belt grinding process

During the abrasive machining of hard steels by the belt grinding, the finished surface texture is greatly influenced by the pressure between the abrasive belt and the belt ground workpiece; this pressure is the force applied by the contacting roller on the part. Therefore, the contacting roller has an important role and a direct impact on process efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to study and compare the influence of seven different polymer contact rollers on the belt ground surface texture (PS-R, POM C-R, PA 6-R, PPC-R, PPH-R, HDPE-R, and LDPE-R). The surface texture quality is characterized by eight roughness parameters ( Ra , Rz , Rp , Rv , Rsk , Rku , Rsm , and Rdq ) and five parameters of the bearing area curve ( R pk , R k , R vk , Mr1 , and Mr2 ). The experimental test results indicate a better surface texture obtained by polyamide roller PA 6 (hardness = 60 Shore D) compared to that obtained with other rollers of the same hardness or of different hardness. Simultaneously, an optimal average pressure between the abrasive belt and the workpiece allows the removal of chips without fracturing the abrasive grains; this generates a good surface texture.