Grinding of titanium. 2. Commercial vitrified wheels made of alumina abrasives

TLDR: Cast titanium was ground with commercial vitrified wheels made of alumina abrasives, and their grinding performance was investigated; the manner in which the wheel was moved over the work during grinding was very important, compared with the silicon carbide wheels.

Abstract: Cast titanium was ground with commercial vitrified wheels made of alumina abrasives, and their grinding performance was investigated. For cutting, the appropriate circumferential speed of the alumina wheels was about 700 m/min. A speed lower or higher than this yielded unfavorable grinding results, which were attributed to wheel loading or chemical attrition of the abrasive, respectively. The hard wheel made of the A abrasive was suitable for grinding of titanium, and moreover, the wheel of the WA abrasive was more suitable than that made of the A abrasive. Generally, the cutting rate of the alumina wheels was inferior to that of the silicon carbide ones investigated previously. Depression of the wheel against the work yielded unfavorable grinding results; the manner in which the wheel was moved over the work during grinding was very important, compared with the silicon carbide wheels. Although the wheel was moved over the work, the high circumferential speed of the wheel resulted in chemical attrition of the abrasive and discoloration of the work surface, or grinding burn. The grinding burn layer mainly consisted of a few microns-thick titanium oxide.