Influence of tilt and lead angles on 5-axis grinding with spherical mounted points

Through the kinematics involved on the grinding process, part of the grinding wheel topography is imprinted on the machined component in the form of grain scratches. During 5-axis grinding using spherical mounted points, the tilt vfN and vf angles can be used to locate the tool and align these scratches to achieve a desired angle in relation to the feed direction, creating a defined structure and decreasing the roughness on the ground surface. Moreover, different tool orientations change the force distribution over the tool, affecting the geometric deviation of the workpiece. The current work reveals a reduction of 50% of the roughness and geometric deviation for grinding of hot isostatically pressed silicon nitride HIPSN through optimization of the tilt vfN and vf angles.