Grindability evaluation and tool wear during grinding of Ti2AlNb intermetallics

This article aims at providing a fundamental performance evaluation when grinding Ti2AlNb intermetallics using SiC abrasive. The wheel speed is fixed at 20 m/s while a range of depth of cut (5–20 μm) and workpiece infeed speed (3–12 m/min) are applied. For better understanding, two kinds of common difficult-to-cut materials, i.e., Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy and Inconel718 nickel-based superalloy are also ground to form a comparison. As for the equal grinding parameters, the normal and tangential grinding forces of Ti2AlNb intermetallics are found to be about twice of those of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, and be only a third and a half of those of Inconel718 alloy, respectively. In addition, Ti2AlNb intermetallics shows more severe tool wear and associated lower G-ratio compared to Inconel718 alloy as a result of strong affinity for SiC abrasives. For the surface integrity, Ti2AlNb intermetallics reveal the same ground surface roughness level, i.e., 0.3–0.6 μm for the applied grinding parameters, with Ti-6Al-4V alloy and Inconel718 alloy. A white layer is easily formed during grinding of Ti2AlNb intermetallics, which adversely affects the machined surface integrity.