Manufacturing of structured surfaces via grinding

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Surface structures are used to extend technical components life. Surface structures, also called functional surfaces, provide additional space for cooling lubricant and favour the generation of pressure in the lubrication film at low sliding speeds. As a consequence, friction in technical components is decreased, resulting in reduced wear. The manufacturing of such structures is nowadays generally done applying lithography, etching, laser techniques and high-precision machining. In this collaborative project, conventional grinding using special grinding wheels with defined topographies will be applied to manufacture structured surfaces, which is only marginally researched so far. Grinding will allow a much faster production of structured surfaces in several kinds of material to improve efficiency and sustainability of materials used in technical components. Besides the defined topographies of the tools, it is essential to know and control the kinematics of the process to be able to manufacture deterministic structures. This will be achieved by deriving analytical equations that specify the kinematics of the proposed grinding process. In this collaborative project, two different kinds of special grinding wheels and kinematics will be developed and researched. The German research group will focus on grinding wheels with defined grain patterns for surface grinding, whereas the Brazilian research group will focus on special conditioning of the bond of grinding wheels applying a cylindrical plunge grinding process. By applying surface and cylindrical grinding, all geometries relevant for sliding components will be considered. Based on the analytical equations specifying the respective kinematics, each research group will develop a simulation tool. The required grinding wheel patterns accordant to desired structures of the Brazilian Group will be simulated using a pattern generation and mapping software, previously developed at the Brazilian Institute and to be enhanced during the proposed project. The German Research group will develop a simulation tool that is able to identify and visualize needed grain patterns for desired surface structures and vice versa. The manufactured structured surfaces from both groups will be optically mapped and their tribological performance will be evaluated. By comparing the possibilities and limitations of the respective approaches, a comprehensive knowledge of the capabilities of grinding structured surfaces will be achieved. The unrestricted exchange of the research results will lead to results impossible to achieve in individual projects and will strengthen the relationship of this binational research group.