Modeling of surface generation and process experiments for grinding Ti-6Al-4V with small-scale grinding tool with regular array structure.

This paper proposes a strategy to overcome the problem of poor surface quality when grinding difficult-to-cut materials at a small scale, by creating a small-scale grinding tool with a regular array structure (SSGT-RAS) through the method of combining low-speed wire electrical discharge turning (LS-WEDT) machine technology and electroplating process. A numerical model is established to describe the surface topography of SSGT-RAS grinding of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V, taking into account the shape, size and distribution of the abrasive grains, the plastic material removal mechanism and the machining parameters. The study comparatively analyses the surface morphology characteristics and surface generation mechanism of SSGT-RAS and ordinary cylindrical grinding tool (OCGT) when grinding titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V with different helical groove depths through side dry grinding experiments. The experimental results show that SSGT-RAS improves the surface quality of the workpiece compared to OCGT, and surface roughness Ra can be reduced by up to 25.20 ~ 27.81% and 21.49 ~ 35.44% at most by changing the feeding velocity and cutting depth, respectively. In addition, increasing helical groove depth further improves the surface quality. A comparative analysis of the simulation and experimental results shows that the prediction error of the surface roughness Ra is within 15.92%. This research expands the preparation process of surface-structured grinding tool at small scale, which has significant theoretical and engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]