To determine whether surface burn is caused by improper selection of grinding parameters, analysis can be carried out from the following aspects:

## Observe Burn Characteristics

Burn Color: Burns induced by improper grinding parameters usually produce varying degrees of discoloration on workpiece surfaces. Mild burns may appear light yellow; as damage aggravates, the color turns brown, purple and even black. Excessive grinding parameters generate massive heat and sharply raise surface temperature, triggering metal oxidation. Different temperatures correspond to different colors of oxide layers.

Burn Distribution: Burns caused by improper grinding parameters are generally evenly distributed across the ground surface. Throughout the grinding cycle, consistently inappropriate parameters bring uniform friction and heat generation between grinding wheel and workpiece, thus creating relatively even burn marks. For example, excessive feed rate in surface grinding may lead to burn traces over the whole ground plane; in cylindrical grinding, burns may spread uniformly along the circumferential direction.

## Analyze Machining Parameters

Compare with Standard Parameters: Compare current grinding parameters against standard recommended values for the given workpiece material‑grinding‑wheel combination. If grinding speed is obviously higher than recommended or feed rate is excessive, improper parameters are likely to cause surface burn. For instance, for ordinary carbon steel, the typical grinding speed ranges from 30‑35 m/s. If actual speed exceeds 40 m/s together with surface burn, excessive grinding speed is very probably the cause.

Evaluate Impacts of Parameter Variation: Analyze how changes in grinding parameters affect grinding force and grinding heat. Higher grinding speed intensifies friction between wheel and workpiece and greatly increases heat output. Excessive feed rate increases material removal per wheel revolution and raises grinding force, which also generates more grinding heat. If surface burn occurs right after parameter adjustment while previous machining runs normally, improper grinding parameters can be tentatively identified as the root cause.

## Inspect Machining Process

Observe Spark Condition: Watch sparks generated at the contact zone between grinding wheel and workpiece during processing. Bright, elongated and abundant sparks indicate heavy grinding heat, which may result from unsuitable grinding parameters. Under normal conditions, sparks should be short and sparse. Excessive feed rate removes large amounts of material rapidly and produces numerous high‑temperature chips. Chips oxidize and burn in air, creating bright and dense sparks.

Check Machine‑tool Vibration: Improper grinding parameters may aggravate machine‑tool vibration. Obvious vibration during processing that varies after parameter adjustment, accompanied by workpiece surface burn, suggests grinding parameters may contribute to both burn and vibration. Excessive grinding force imposes heavy load on the machine tool and triggers vibration, which further increases grinding heat and leads to surface burn.

## Rule out Other Influencing Factors

Check Grinding Wheel Condition: Make sure the grinding wheel is not dull, loaded or unbalanced. A dull grinding wheel loses cutting capacity, increases grinding force and heat and may also cause surface burn, though such issues are unrelated to grinding‑parameter settings. These factors can be excluded by inspecting wheel surface wear, checking dressing frequency and performing grinding‑wheel balance tests.

Verify Workpiece Material and Clamping: Examine whether workpiece hardness and microstructure are homogeneous and whether clamping is firm. Inhomogeneous material or insecure clamping may also trigger local overheating and burns, which are not caused by improper grinding‑parameter selection. Hard inclusions inside workpiece material produce high local resistance and local high temperature when contacted by the grinding wheel. Loose clamping leads to displacement or vibration during grinding and further brings surface burn. Material inspection and re‑clamping help eliminate such interferences.

Based on comprehensive analysis above: if burn features match typical symptoms of improper grinding parameters, machining parameters exceed normal ranges and exert notable influence on grinding heat and force, corresponding abnormal phenomena occur during processing, and other potential causes are excluded, it can be reliably concluded that surface burn originates from improperly selected grinding parameters.