A non-uniform contact grinding method for silicon nitride spherical plain bearing surfaces considering grinding wheel wear
摘要
Conventional spherical surface generating grinding of silicon nitride spherical plain bearings is challenged by a low material removal efficiency and rapid grinding wheel wear. This paper proposes a non-uniform contact grinding method for silicon nitride spherical plain bearings based on conventional spherical surface generating grinding method. Introducing an axial eccentricity between the rotate axis of the grinding wheel and the spherical center along axial direction of the bearing ring increases cooling and lubrication effect of the grinding zone, thereby improving material removal efficiency and the grinding wheel wear resistance. Initially, the spherical surface generation mechanism and the calculation method for the grinding wheel positioning coordinates in the non-uniform contact mode are analyzed. Subsequently, a method for identifying the grinding wheel wear profile parameters and a calculation method for grinding ratio is proposed, based on the principle of convergence between the spherical radius and the grinding wheel wear profile radius. Finally, a prediction model for the positioning coordinates of the grinding wheel after eccentric movement is developed by using the radius of the outer edge of the wear profile. A prediction model for the spherical radius is also established based on a cubic polynomial fitting model of the grinding ratio. Experimental results illustrate that the non-uniform contact grinding method with an eccentricity of 0.1 mm improves the average grinding ratio by 52.8% compared to conventional generating grinding method. The prediction errors for the grinding wheel positioning coordinates are less than 4.7 μm, and the prediction errors of the spherical radius are less than 4.9 μm. The surface roughness Ra of the spherical plain bearings has been reduced from 0.311 μm to 0.071 μm, and the profile error is reduced from 9.7 μm to 2.2 μm. The results provide theoretical support for the precise and efficient grinding of silicon nitride spherical plain bearing.