In the preceding paper, the deformations of workpieces during surface grinding and the profile errors of the finished workpieces were studied experimentally. In this paper, in order to clarify the mechanism of the deformations and the profile errors of the workpieces, the temperature distributions and the thermal deformations of the workpieces under the steady-state conditions, under which the heat flowed into the workpieces through the ground surfaces are equal to the heat transferred out to the atmosphere through all the surfaces of the workpieces, are analysed by using the finite element method and the calculated results are compared with the experimental results. This study confirms that the analytical results agree approximately with the experimental results and that the principal cause of the convex deformations during grinding and the concave profiles after grinding shown in the preceding paper is the unequal temperature distributions due to the grinding heat.