Metal Grinding in the Presence of Mechanically Degradable Polymer

Abstract

Grinding of metal swarf in the presence of a mechanically degradable high-molecular compound intensifies the size-reduction and plasticizing processes and is accompanied by reduction reactions and desulfurization of metal particles. Mechanically degradable organics are used as solid-phase high-molecular compounds to promote metal grinding. A high-energy vibrating mill is employed to grind steel swarf, a single-crystal diffractometer for X-ray diffraction, and an infrared laser pyrometer to measure the temperature of the reactor walls during grinding. Polymethyl methacrylate is experimentally chosen as a high-molecular compound to generate active low-molecular components. The grinding of high-speed steel swarf together with the high-molecular organic compound leads to metal disintegration, which is a more energy-favored process that that occurring in the presence of low-molecular surface-active agents. The experiment has also demonstrated that there is no need to use labor-intensive annealing of the powder to eliminate mechanical work hardening since the vibration treatment of swarf in the presence of a degradable polymer leads to metal plasticizing. The time factor is used to describe the removal of adsorbed sulfur and that contained in steel from the metal and to describe the reduction of oxide films by the cracking products during mechanochemical treatment.