A New Dynamic State Space Model for the Cylindrical Grinding Process

A new dynamic state space model is proposed for the in-process estimation and prediction of part qualities in the plunge cylindrical grinding process. A through review on various grinding models in literature reveals a hidden dynamic relationship among the grinding conditions, the grinding power, the surface roughness, and the part size due to the machine dynamics and the wheel wear, based on which a nonlinear state space equation is derived. After the model parameters are determined according to the reported values in literature, several simulations are run to verify that the model makes good physical sense. Since some of the output variables, such as the actual part size, may or may not be measured in industry applications, the observability is tested for different sets of outputs in order to see how each set of on-line sensors affects the observability of the model. The proposed model opens a new way of estimating the part qualities such as the surface roughness and the actual part size based on application of the state estimation algorithm to the measured outputs such as the grinding power. In addition, a long term prediction of the part qualities in batch grinding processes would be realized by simulation of the proposed model. Possible applications to monitoring and control of grinding processes are discussed along with several technical challenges lying ahead.