Comparative investigation on high-speed grinding of TiCp/Ti-6Al-4V particulate reinforced titanium matrix composites with single-layer electroplated and brazed CBN wheels

In order to develop the high-efficiency and precision machining technique of TiCp/Ti-6Al-4V particulate reinforced titanium matrix composites (PTMCs), high-speed grinding experiments were conducted using the single-layer electroplated cubic boron nitride (CBN) wheel and brazed CBN wheel, respectively. The comparative grinding performance was studied in terms of grinding force, grinding temperature, grinding-induced surface features and defects. The results display that the grinding forces and grinding temperature obtained with the brazed CBN wheel are always lower than those with the electroplated CBN wheel. Though the voids and microcracks are the dominant grinding-induced surface defects, the brazed CBN wheel produces less surface defects compared to the electroplated wheel according to the statistical analysis results. The maximum materials removal rate with the brazed CBN wheel is much higher than that with the electroplated one. All above indicate that the single-layer brazed CBN super-abrasive wheel is more suitable for high-speed grinding of PTMCs than the electroplated counterpart.