Automatic search for wheel position in flute grinding of cutting tools

The profile of helical flutes has a great influence on properties of cutting tools. This paper presents an automatic method of searching for a wheel position in flute grinding for a given shape of the helical flute and grinding wheel profile. The algorithm is based on the main loop and two subroutines. The first algorithm is dedicated to the simulation of the flute profile by splitting the grinding wheel into many thin disks. The second algorithm represents the numerical evaluation of the reached profile that results from previous grinding simulation. Finally, the experimental evaluation using particle swarm optimization is presented and obtained results discussed.