Performance evaluation of the grinding wheel with aggregates of grains in grinding of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy

The results of grinding are highly dependent on conditions of workpiece removal process. The material is removed by an unspecified number of abrasive grains of irregular shape and random distribution on the grinding wheel active surface. The interaction between the abrasive grain and the workpiece can be divided into three stages: (i) rubbing, (ii) ploughing and (iii) chip formation. Reciprocal contribution of each stage is dependent on the properties of the workpiece, the grinding parameters, the friction condition between the abrasive grain and the workpiece and the shape of the grains. In the article, the results of numerical and experimental process in the analysis of grinding of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy, using a conventional grinding wheel and a newly developed grinding wheel with aggregates of grains, were presented. The analysis of influence of the geometric parameters of the abrasive aggregates and the abrasive grains on the effectiveness of the workpiece removal process is presented. The effects of the geometrical parameters of grains and abrasive aggregates in direction of motion as well as in transversal direction on the size of ridges were determined. It has been observed that increase of the length of sideway material displacement results in the decrease of ridge formation. The results of a numerical analysis were confirmed by experimental research. The analysis of the impact of utilization of abrasive aggregates on the grinding forces, grinding-specific energy and surface roughness was performed. The impact of abrasive aggregates on the decrease of grinding forces and specific energy and the increase of quality of ground surface was observed.