Wear Mechanisms in Grinding of PCBN

Abstract

PCBN-inserts have a high potential in the cutting of hardened steel, cast iron and super alloys due to their high hardness and heat resistance. Nevertheless they have a high purchase price, which lowers the economic benefits for the end user compared to other cutting materials. This is caused by the high production costs of the inserts. The grinding of PCBN-inserts causes a major proportion of these costs as a result of the high grinding wheel wear. The primary wear mechanism is grain breakout followed by clogging of the grinding layer. This study shows that the efficiency of the grinding process can be increased significantly by applying low cutting speeds and high feed rates. In this case, splintering of the grinding grain is the main wear mechanism.