Wear Behaviour and Sustainability of Coated Abrasives in Grinding of Aluminium Alloy Using Minimum Quantity Lubrication

Abstract

The consumption of coated abrasive papers has been greatly increased in grinding of aluminium gadget housings to achieve a mirror-like finish prior to cosmetic treatments; however, the rapid abrasive wear produces low sustainability and likewise massive wastage. Prevention of adhesion wear and control of the grinding temperature of the coated abrasive papers are key challenges for prolonging abrasives’ life, but can be managed by the MQL grinding system. This work investigates the influences of coated abrasives and environmental conditions on grinding force, material removal and machined surface topography; with the corresponding abrasive wear patterns under dry conditions and the developed MQL system in the grinding of aluminium alloy (6061-T6). The developed relationship between the stress flow and thermal softening on the workpiece showed a good correlation of ~ 96.3% for controlling grinding forces and the associated thermal effects. Material removal decreased when the adhesion in the pores developed into clusters, rather than abrasion wear. The ground surface roughness decreased when the wear of the abrasives altered the cutting action into a sliding friction. With MQL, the reduction of abrasive wear showed in a retarded process of adhesion and clogging, followed by a rapid increase of abrasion and attrition wear.