Abstract: According to the problems of low machining efficiency and thermal damage caused by high grinding temperature for difficult-to-cut materials with high strength and toughness, a new method of improving heat transfer capacity of grinding wheel by virtue of heat pipe technology was proposed to enhance heat exchange at the contact zone and avoid high grinding temperature. On the basis of the structure of heat pipe grinding wheel and its heat transfer principle, experimental device and test method were designed and set up to investigate the heat transfer performance of heat pipe grinding wheel. Moreover, the effects of wheel speed, working fluid property, heat flux input at the evaporator, cooling condition at the condenser and liquid film thickness on heat transfer capacity and starting characteristic of heat pipe grinding wheel were analyzed. The results show that heat pipe grinding wheel can significantly increase heat exchange at the contact zone. Besides, the test method for heat pipe grinding wheel can accurately evaluate the effects of various factors on its heat transfer performance and is suitable for prediction of its heat transfer capacity.

Key words: heat pipe grinding wheel, high efficiency grinding, grinding temperature