Dual electrolytic grinding of TC4 titanium alloy
摘要
This study develops a novel dual electrolytic grinding (DEG) technique to enhance the machining performance of titanium alloys. The processing principle of DEG was introduced, and TC4 (Ti-6Al-4 V) grinding experiments are conducted using an 800# bronze-bonded CBN wheel under four conditions: DEG, electrolytic in-process dressing (ELID) grinding, electrochemical grinding (ECG), conventional grinding (CG). Workpiece grinding forces, surface roughness, and topography were measured across methods, with electrolytic voltage effects on DEG surface quality investigated. Key results show DEG achieves the lowest grinding forces (7.8 N normal, 2.4 N tangential), representing 18% and 40% reductions versus CG. DEG eliminates material coating and plastic deformation layers, delivering optimal surface quality (Sa = 110 nm) simultaneously. An oxide layer can also be observed on the grinding wheel surface, which shows almost no adhesion to TC4 material. Furthermore, electrolytic voltage applied to the grinding wheel is found to have a more significant impact on workpiece surface quality than that applied to the workpiece in DEG. The optimal Sa value of 71 nm was achieved with grinding wheel electrolysis at 60 V and workpiece electrolysis at 20 V. These results demonstrate the potential of DEG in high-precision titanium alloy machining.