SURFACE INTEGRITY STUDY OF CREEP-FEED GRINDING

This paper reports on the research results of surface integrity of the workpiece in creep-feed grinding on the high speed tool steel. The creepfeed grinding is an advanced abrasive process widely used in industry of complex and heavy engineering products. An experimental investigation of the fundamental characteristics of surface metallurgy and surface roughness is carried out. The metallurgical properties were determined by an optical microscope, and through: microstructure, microhardness, cracks and burns. The surface roughness was determined with multiple important roughness parameters through scanning the surface topography (roughness average, mean roughness depth, maximum roughness depth and profile bearing length ratio). The results show that the grinding surface integrity is acceptable with good material removal rate, so that the creep-feed grinding process is an excellent choice for efficient and quality material removal. However, creep-feed grinding is not suitable for the final machining because of the possible metallurgical alterations due to high thermal load.