Analytical and Experimental Investigation of the Nickel Based Superalloy Using Cryogenic Cooling Grinding

Abstract

Grinding processes are mainly technique employed widely as a finishing and difficult-to machine such as hardness and brittleness materials machining. However in grinding process, high grinding zone temperature may lead to thermal damage to the work surface, induces micro-cracks and tensile residual stresses at the ground surfaces, which deteriorate surface quality and integrality of the ground surface. The work presented in this paper aims at evaluating the grindability and surface integrity of the nickel base superalloy resulting from the application of cryogenic cooling. Grinding experiments were conducted under three different environments: dry, mineral oil and cryogenic cooling jet. The grindability results have shown that while the cryogenic cooling generates the lowest grinding temperature, no significant differences over the specific grinding force components were observed. As for the ground surface integrity, however, substantial improvements were realized. The novel process not only obviously enhances surface quality and integrality of grinding surface, but also enables retention of the wheel sharpness for a longer period and reduces pollution of grinding fluid to nature.