Ding Wenfeng

Grindability and Surface Integrity of Cast Nickel-based Superalloy in Creep Feed Grinding with Brazed CBN Abrasive Wheels

The technique of creep feed grinding is most suitable for geometrical shaping, and therefore has been expected to improve effectively material removal rate and surface quality of components with complex profile. This article studies experimentally the effects of process parameters (i.e. wheel speed, workpiece speed and depth of cut) on the grindability and surface integrity of cast nickel-based superalloys, i.e. K424, during creep feed grinding with brazed cubic boron nitride (CBN) abrasive wheels. Some important factors, such as grinding force and temperature, specific grinding energy, size stability, surface topography, microhardness and microstructure alteration of the sub-surface, residual stresses, are investigated in detail. The results show that during creep feed grinding with brazed CBN wheels, low grinding temperature at about 100 °C is obtained though the specific grinding energy of nickel-based superalloys is high up to 200-300 J/mm3. A combination of wheel speed 22.5 m/s, workpiece speed 0.1 m/min, depth of cut 0.2 mm accomplishes the straight grooves with the expected dimensional accuracy. Moreover, the compressive residual stresses are formed in the burn-free and crack-free ground surface.

Dimension Accuracy and Surface Integrity of Creep Feed Ground Titanium Alloy with Monolayer Brazed CBN Shaped Wheels

Titanium alloy tenon is creep feed ground with monolayer brazed cubic boron nitride (CBN) shaped wheels. The dimension accuracy of the tenon is assessed and the results indicate that it completely meets the requirement of blade tenon of aero-engine. Residual stresses, surface roughness, microstructure and microhardness are measured on ground surfaces of the specimen, which are all compared with that ground with vitrified CBN wheels. Under all the circumstances, compressive residual stress is obtained and the depth of the machining affected zone is found to be less than 40 μm. No phase transformation is observed at depths of up to 100 μm below the surface, though plastic deformation is visible in the process of grain refinement. The residual stress and microhardness of specimens ground with brazed CBN wheels are observed to be lower than those ground with vitrified ones. The arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) values obtained are all below 0.8 μm.