On the Grinding Performance of Alumina Wheels in Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Grinding of Hardened GCr15 Steel
Abstract Composite manufacturing with multiple energy fields is an important source of processing technology innovation. In this work, comparative experiments on the conventional grinding (CG) and ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding (UVAG) of hardened GCr15 steel were conducted with WA wheel. The grinding wheel wear patterns and chips were characterized. In addition, grinding force, force ratio, and ground surface quality were investigated to evaluate wheel performance. Results illustrate that the interaction between abrasive grains and workpiece in UVAG process has the characteristics of high frequency and discontinuity. The wear property of abrasive grains is changed and the grinding force is decreased because the generation of micro-fracture in abrasive grains improves the grinding wheel self-sharpening. Better surface quality is obtained, the surface roughness is reduced by up to 18.96%, and the number of defects on the machined surface is reduced through the superior reciprocating ironing of UVAG. Accordingly, WA wheel performance is improved by UVAG.