Grinding residual stress optimization under the micro-carburizing effect

Abstract

Grinding residual stress is a significant concern in manufacturing, and current control strategies often entail compromises in machining efficiency and energy consumption. Therefore, the micro-carburizing technology is proposed, and the mechanism of the thermo-metallurgical transformation process on the surface residual stress is quantitatively analyzed at the microstructure level. The results show that the carbon content of the grinding surface is increased from 0.2 % to 0.5 %, and the martensite phase is increased by 15 % under the micro-carburizing effect, which makes the surface obtain more significant residual compressive stress (increased by about 120 MPa). The study reveals the formation mechanism of surface residual stresses under micro-carburizing grinding and proposes an efficient stress control strategy for grinding mild steel surfaces.