Air Flow Field around the Grinding Wheel

Control of grinding zone temperature is of prime importance to obtain defect- free ground work surface. Failure to lower this temperature is likely to cause a number of thermal damages in the workpiece. Beside this, intense wheel loading on the grinding wheel may happen due to rise in grinding temperature. Application of the cutting fluid is an important aspect to reduce the various thermal damages and to improve product quality in grinding. But, the presence of the air layer around a rotating grinding wheel impedes the entry of cutting fluid into the grinding zone. Many new and innovative measures have been carried out to suppress the formation of this air layer and to remove the ill effects of the air layer. The present work reviews some of the past works that explored the formation of the air layer and that investigated different ways and means to combat the hindrance caused by this air layer to promote supply of grinding fluid close to the grinding zone for effective control of grinding temperature. It also suggests some probable avenues of future research.