A Study of Wheel Wear in Electrochemical Surface Grinding

Major advances in Electrochemical Grinding (ECG) technology depends on new and improved abrasive grain materials. As these new grain materials are developed, proper investigations are necessary to understand the basic behavior of the process by considering significant ECG parameters. This paper presents the ECG study that was conducted to compare both commercially available (standard aluminum oxide and silicon carbide) and newly developed (sintered ceramic grain of aluminum oxide and pure white aluminum oxide) abrasive grain materials. An analysis of the effects of operating variables (such as abrasive grain material, grit concentration, grit size, feed rate, and electrolyte flow rate) on various responses is also included. The responses considered are current, spindle load, wheel wear, and G-ratio. The effects of operating variables and their interactions were determined using a 2⁴(4) randomized factorial experimental design. The tests were conducted on 304 Stainless Steel materials. The total volume of metal removed was obtained from the geometry of the groove cut by the ECG. Statistical analysis for reach response was performed to interpret the data. It was found that there is a remarkable difference in the mean value of each response as the feed rate is switched from low to high level. Current, spindle load, and wheel wear increase and G-ratio decreases significantly as the feed rate is increased. The wheel wear at low feed rate is not significantly affected by any of the operating variables. However, the wheel wear at high feed rate is significantly affected by all the process parameters that were utilized in this study. It was observed that wheel wear is mainly caused by the breakdown of abrasive grains during the cut and to a great extent affected by the attrition resistance and the friability of the grit material. The ECG process conditions that led to short-circuiting and anodic passivity were also observed to increase the wheel wear.