Experimental study of ELID grinding based on the active control of oxide layer

The oxide layer state directly relates to the grinding efficiency and machining quality in Electrolytic In-process Dressing (ELID) grinding. In order to monitor and control the state of the oxide layer, a new high-frequency pulse power source is proposed for ELID grinding. It uses the superposition of big and small pulses to achieve periodical electrolysis and to adjust oxide layer state. Based on an analysis of current change with duty cycle, a pulse-based fuzzy control program was designed to control the state of the oxide layer within a certain range and the oxide layer grinding efficiency in different oxide layer states was studied. The results show that the new power source could maintain a stable grinding process and that the dressing current should be controlled according to the grinding wheel grain size.