Abstract
The comparisons of performance characteristics between the super-mirror face grinding machine using variable air pressure developed in this laboratory to grind precisely the sliding face of a surface hardened workpiece with thermal spray and the conventional one are investigated by measuring the surface roughness and hardness for a SCM440. To process variously workpiece according to shape, size and materials, the rotating and contacting forces of the developed grinding machine can be changed by air pressure. The surface roughness of processed workpiece can be also attained to state of mirror face by grinding precisely the sliding face with changing the rotating speed of diamond wheel. It is possible to be attached to the various machine tools because the super-mirror face grinding machine using variable air pressure is a small size. The grinding efficiency is elevated because it can be worked by two or more grinding machines attached to concurrently a machine tool for the large workpiece. In this study, results show that the cusp height of the super-mirror face grinding machine for the particle size of 100 and $1500No./mm^2$ is lower than that of the conventional one because the vibration is reduced by rotating very fast the diamond wheel with a pressed air and it can be processed by rotating the diamond wheel with a constantly varied air pressure perpendicular to workpiece surface, and that the workpiece in the super-mirror face grinding machine for the particle size of $3000No./mm^2$ can be processed to state of mirror face that is rarely seen by the cusp height. It is also found that the surface hardness of both the conventional and the super-mirror face grinding machines are increased as the particle size of diamond wheel is reduced, and the surface hardness of the super-mirror face grinding machine is HRC 1.1 ~ 1.8 higher than that of the conventional one.