Experimental Study on Grinding of a Nickel-Based Alloy Using Vitrified CBN Wheels

An experimental study is reported on the grinding of a nickel-based alloy using vitrified CBN wheels. This work was motivated by switching the grinding of fir-tree root forms of jet engine blades from creep-feed grinding with conventional abrasive wheels to vitrified CBN wheels. The objective is to explore process limits and practical grinding parameters for judging the switch in terms of overall costs and productivity. Straight surface grinding experiments were conducted with water-based fluid on rectangular blocks at a fixed wheel speed vs = 45 m/s, various depths of cut a = 0.05 - 1.0 mm, and workspeeds vw = 2 - 40 mm/s. Grinding power, forces, surface roughness, and radial wheel wear were measured. Specific material removal rate of 8 mm3/(mm.s) was reached in rough grinding using a wheel dressed for achieving surface roughness Ra = 0.8 µm in finish grinding. It was found that shallow depths of cut combined with fast workspeeds, or less creep-feed modes, are more suitable for achieving high material removal rates with vitrified CBN grinding. Rough grinding is restricted by high grinding temperatures with newly dressed wheels and by chatters with worn wheels.