Improving the grindability of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V with the assistance of ultrasonic vibration and plasma electrolytic oxidation

A novel grinding technique is proposed with the goal of improving the grindability of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V. This technique is a combination of ultrasonic-assisted grinding and plasma-electrolytic oxidation. To determine its performance in the grinding of Ti-6Al-4V, experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of ultrasonic vibration on grinding forces and work-surface roughness under the presence of plasma oxidation. The results showed that the technique drastically reduced the normal and tangential grinding forces by 60% and 70%, respectively, and decreased the work-surface roughness by 46% compared to conventional grinding, which uses neither ultrasonic assisted grinding nor plasma-electrolytic oxidation.