Analysis of the Material Behavior of Cemented Carbides (WC-Co) in Grinding by Single Grain Cutting Tests

When grinding multi-phase, brittle materials like cemented carbides consisting of a soft binder matrix (Co) and hard grains (WC), a transition from brittle to ductile regime grinding has been proven scientifically. The phase fractions and the mesostructure of these materials have a significant impact on the material behavior. Especially the impact of the phase fractions and the mesostructure on the grindability should be investigated in more detail. This paper presents a method to analyze the material behavior systematically, in particular the transition from ductile to brittle regime grinding, for various cemented carbide compositions by single grain cutting tests based on the critical chip thickness hcu,crit. The results of this research can be used for a more efficient grinding process layout.