Study on wheel guard safety thickness for grinding machine

Effect of collision energy of abrasive products on cold steel wheel guard damage

Abstract

To protect machine tool operators and/or instruments from abrasive fragments generated by grinding wheel distraction, a safe wheel cover design is required. The authors designed and assembled a collision experimental apparatus, which used an abrasive product for fragment and cold steel plate used as the target. The fracture mechanism of the abrasive product and cold steel plate were investigated experimentally. The damage could be classified in three patterns: "plastic defamation," "crack generation," and "penetration." Crack generation was defined as the border between safe and unsafe regions of the guard. The results indicated that the safe thickness of the wheel guard is proportional to the square of fragment speed. Furthermore, the fine element method was used to simulate a wide range of collision conditions.