Evaluation and investigation of grinding process of biomedical polymer (PEEK)

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) has been widely used in the medical engineering due to its high strength to weight ratio, creep and wear-resistance, and anti-allergically properties. Grinding is generally used to produce PEEK parts with high accuracy and surface quality requirements. In this research, the tool loading and the effect of cryogenic cooling in the grinding of PEEK are studied for the first time. It is shown that the generated heat in the grinding process, which is mainly influenced by the tool micro-topography, process parameter, and coolant lubricant has an important role in the surface integrity of PEEK. Additionally, the influence of specific material removal rate and the dressing speed ratio on the specific grinding energy of PEEK was studied. The input parameters of the grinding process that are investigated in this study include cutting speed (vs), depth of cut (ae), and feed rate (vft). To investigate the grinding wheel topography, the effects of dressing overlap ratio (Ud) and the dressing speed ratio (qd) were also investigated. Grinding force, surface roughness, and loading of the grinding wheel were considered as output parameters. The experiments were designed based on response surface methodology and the optimum cutting condition was obtained based on this method. The depth of cut and the dressing overlap ratio had respectively the maximum and minimum impact on the surface roughness and cutting forces. Additionally, the tool loading was mainly influenced by the cutting speed.