Title: Experimental study on the effect of coolant on the thermal characteristics of gear grinding machine under load

Authors: Li-jun Fan; Xiao-jun Shi; Ke Zhu; Jian-min Gao

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710054, China ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710054, China ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710054, China ' School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710054, China

Abstract: It is very important to reduce the thermal deformation of machine tools for modern precision machining because the machining error induced by the thermal deformation is up to 75% of the total errors. In this paper a special measurement system was established for a five-axis gear grinding machine and the effect of coolant on thermal behaviour of the machine tool during various grinding processes has been studied experimentally. The results show that the coolant has a strong influence on the thermal behaviour. This is mainly because the coolant absorbs a large amount of cutting heat and the uneven flows of coolant on the bed surface increase the temperature gradient of the machine tool. In addition, coolant atomisation leads to higher ambient temperature inside the machine tool housing. The measured thermally induced errors increase with the increase of the coolant temperature. Although coolant causes the machine tool temperature increase, it can also positively affect the thermal behaviour if coolant is controlled to flow correctly and stabilise the machine tool temperature. In order to further reduce the thermal error, controlling coolant flow has to be considered in earl design stages.

Keywords: gear grinding machine; thermal characteristics; coolant influence; experimental study on load; manufacturing system.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMS.2018.091177

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2018 Vol.11 No.1, pp.53 - 66

Received: 18 Aug 2017
Accepted: 28 Nov 2017
Published online: 13 Apr 2018 *

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