Dry Grinding of Titanium Alloy Using Brazed Monolayer cBN Wheels Coated with Graphite Lubricant

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of graphite lubricant on the dry grinding performance of Ti-6Al-4Valloy,using graphite-coated,brazed monolayer,cubic boron nitride(cBN)wheels.Brazed monolayer cBN wheels both with and without a coating of polymer-based graphite lubricant are fabricated and subsequently compared for grinding performance based on measurements of grinding temperature,surface microstructure and grinding.In terms of grinding temperature,considerable improvement in dry grinding performance of titanium alloy is achieved using coated brazed monolayer cBN wheels,with 42%—47%reduction in grinding temperature as opposed to uncoated wheels.The grinding force ratio with the coated wheels is observed to remain between 1.45to1.85despite material removal rates reaching up to 1 950mm3/mm.No tangible change in ground titanium surface microstructure is noted as a result of grinding with the graphite coated wheels as opposed to the uncoated ones.