Influence of Grinding Parameters on the Removal Depth of 42CrMo Steel and Its Prediction in Robot Electro-Hydraulic-Actuated Abrasive Belt Grinding

Abstract

Robotic grinding serves as a pivotal embodiment and key technological support of Industry 4.0. Elucidating the influence of robotic grinding parameters on the material removal depth (MRD) of 42CrMo steel and optimizing these parameters are critical to enhancing grinding efficiency and quality. In this study, the influences of revolution speed, feed speed, grinding force, and grit designation on MRD and surface Vickers hardness of 42CrMo steel were investigated by using an adaptive electro-hydraulic-actuated triangular abrasive belt in robot grinding. A predictive model for MRD of 42CrMo steel has been established using the orthogonal central composite design method. The results indicated that as the revolution speed or grinding increases, both MRD and surface hardness increase. However, as the revolution speed surpasses 4000 RPM or the grinding force exceeds 60 N, the increase of MRD becomes slower due to the increase in surface hardness. Both the MRD and surface hardness decrease continuously as the feed speed increases, and once it exceeds 15 mm·s−1, the decrease of the MRD becomes slow. The rise in grit designation of the abrasive belt makes the MRD reduce gradually while the surface hardness rises slightly. The correlation coefficient of the predictive model is 0.9387, and the relative error between the predicted and experimental MRD is within 10%, indicating a relatively high accuracy. At the optimal grinding parameters (grinding force of 81 N, revolution speed of 4739 RPM, and feed speed of 7.6 mm·s−1), the maximum MRD of 42CrMo steel achieved by an abrasive belt of 60 grit designation is 0.934 mm. This work provides a basis for high-precision robot abrasive belt grinding of 42CrMo steel.