Creep-Feed Grinding

Abstract

Creep-feed grinding was developed in Europe in the late 1950s; since then it has been used in an ever-increasing number of applications, particularly in the aerospace industry. Creep-feed grinding in the United States, however, did not enjoy the same success initially, as it appeared that the process was employed using incorrect grinding wheel grades, poor dressing conditions, and less than satisfactory process parameters. The results were not impressive, and after some catastrophies attributable to poor surface integrity, it was assumed to be a high-risk process. Nevertheless, in Europe, the process was a resounding success, and so for many years creep-feed grinding was regarded as “leading edge” technology in the United States. In Europe now the established process is already moving into the new era of Continuous Dress (CD) creep-feed grinding, resulting in enormous productivity gains that have attracted the United States market to look once more at creep-feed grinding both with and without continuous dressing and, in some installations, with the equipment integrated into automated grinding cells and systems producing high-volume high-precision parts.