Experimental investigation of the effects of dressing and coolant-lubricant conditions on grinding of Nickel-based superalloy-Inconel 738

Abstract

In grinding operation, wheel topography influences the workpiece surface quality, grinding forces, abrasive grain wear and wheel loading. The difficulties associated with grinding nickel-base superalloys are mainly attributed to the high strength and low thermal diffusivity of these materials. Their high strength leads to high removal energy. The application of green machining techniques for sustainable manufacturing becomes more and more attractive nowadays to reduce the consumption of energy and cutting tools and cut fluids and consequently decrease the production costs and environmental effects. In this study, the effect of dressing parameters and wheel topography on Minimum Quantity Lubrication-MQL grinding performance of Nickel-base superalloy-Inconel 738 is investigated. In other words, to generate different grinding wheel topographies, depth of dressing and dressing speed has been changed during dressing and conditioning of vitrified Al2O3 wheels using a single point diamond dresser. After dressing grinding wheels, machining tests have been conducted to study the influence of the wheel topography and coolant-lubricant types on the performance of grinding operation (workpiece surface quality and wheel loading). The tests have been performed in the presence of fluid as well as MQL with compressed air. The results show that applying MQL technique with the optimized dressing conditions improves the grinding performance of Inconel 738. Minimum quantity lubrication implemented in the grinding process is one of the realistic alternatives that can rise the abrasive processes on a sustainable level.