Evaluation of Lubricating Ability of Solid Lubricants in Diamond Grinding of Difficult-to-machine Materials

Titanium alloys and nickel-based stainless steels are attractive materials for the aerospace industry because of high-strength, heat resistance, corrosion resistance. However, these materials are notorious for poor thermal properties and are classified as difficult-to-machine materials. The problems are attributed to the high specific energy and the large amount of cutting fluid consumed. Paper presents the results of the elimination of fluid coolants by solid lubricants (SLs) in diamond grinding of titanium alloy VT22 and heat-resistant stainless steel 10Cr11Ni23Ti3MoB. To study the impact of various compositions of SL on grinding performance, the cutting force and surface roughness were evaluated and compared with dry grinding. The best lubricating ability in grinding with low feeds has stearic acid (steel) and stearic acid with boron nitride (VT22). A good lubricating ability in grinding with increased feeds has stearic acid with boron nitride (steel) and stearic acid with molybdenum disulfide or with boron nitride (VT22).