Original Date: 11/03/1996
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

The Machining and Inspection Research User Center (MIRUC), located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML), comprises nine separate laboratories. The MIRUC offers researchers an opportunity to work with experienced personnel, state-of-the-art facilities, and high-precision grinding equipment. Capabilities provided by the MIRUC include high-temperature material manufacturing; complex ceramic component grinding; wear and friction studies on lubricants; material removal rate evaluation; wheel characteristic investigation; and use of modulus-of-rupture bars for basic grindability studies.

The MIRUC features state-of-the-art equipment for basic process research such a Sabre multi-axis grinder, a Weldon cylindrical grinder, a Harig surface grinder, a Cincinnati Milacron centerless grinder, a Nicco creep-feed grinder, and a Chand-Kare grindability tester. All instrumented equipment can record spindle vibration; spindle horsepower; acoustic emission; x, y, z forces; and other critical data via a Labview-based, data-collection interface.

Working with industry, the MIRUC has developed a simple, effective method for calculating grinding ratios (the volume of workpiece material removed per unit volume of wheel wear). Since diamond grinding wheels are expensive, researchers need to know the grinding ratio before estimating the tooling cost of a production process. Other studies done with industry include developing cost-effective methods for grinding complex ceramic components; adapting an inexpensive multi-axis vertical machining center for ceramic grinding applications; evaluating newly-developed machinery and tools; creating a centerless grinding process; and optimizing grinding processes.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.