Material Modifications Caused by Thermal and Mechanical Load During Grinding

This paper discusses results acquired during surface grinding experiments performed on hardened steel workpieces. The experimental results show different zones of thermally induced material modifications during grinding depending on the contact time Δt and the maximum contact zone temperature Tmax. In particular it was observed that rehardened zones occurred within two separated ranges of temperatures and contact times. Further analyses revealed that these separated time and temperature ranges correspond to significantly different mechanical loads as well as to varying retained austenite rates. The experimental results shall help to identify possible mechanisms responsible for the observed material modifications during grinding.