Grinding wheel loading evaluation using digital image processing

Wheel loading entails chip accumulation in porosities between grains or welding to the top of cutting grains. It is considered one of the most prevalent problems in grinding Nickel-based super alloys. Identification of wheel loading is an important issue for optimizing the dressing intervals, but it can be a time consuming and an expensive process. A novel technique based on digital image processing to determine the loading areas over the surface of CBN vitrified grinding wheels using the toolbox of MATLAB is presented in this paper. The optical characteristics of the metal chips, the abrasive grains and wheel bond are considered. Experiments were performed to examine the repeatability of the proposed technique. The results were verified by the use of a scanning electron microscope. Based on the proposed technique, the effects of cutting parameters on the loaded area to wheel surface ratio in relation to grinding performance were studied empirically.