Effect of particle size on the ultraprecision polishing process of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V

Because of the excellent properties, the application of titanium alloys in the ultraprecision field is attracting more and more attention of scholars. However, the poor machinability of titanium alloys limited their application. To reveal the mechanism of titanium alloy Ti6Al4V in ultraprecision polishing, the ultraprecision polishing tests of Ti6Al4V alloy have been carried out after the ultraprecision turning tests. The effect of particle size on the surface roughness has been investigated through the tests. In addition, a 2D finite element model was presented to investigate the ultraprecision polishing process. At the same time, the effect of particle size on the ultraprecision polishing of Ti6Al4V was analyzed by the simulation. The simulation results showed that there existed a critical particle size that can affect the ultraprecision polishing process of Ti6Al4V alloy. The contact process of particle and the workpiece can be regarded as a cutting process when the radius particle is lower than the critical size, while the contact process is a ploughing process when the radius particle is larger than the critical size. The experiments’ results proved that the better surface can be obtained if the radius of particles is slightly larger than the critical size.