[Grinding of titanium. 1. Commercial and experimental wheels made of silicon carbide abrasives].

Cast titanium was ground with commercial and experimental wheels made of silicon carbide abrasives, and their grinding performance was investigated. With the vitrified wheels made of the GC abrasive, at a higher the wheel circumferential speed and heavier the grinding pressure, the cutting rate was greater, accompanied by violent wear of the wheel. Being independent of the wheel speed, the grinding ratio reached about 1 under pressure heavier than 100 gf. The MgO-MgCl2-bonded wheels of the C abrasive exhibited a similar tendency. The manner in which the wheel was moved over the work during grinding proved to be very important, compared with the Ni-Cr alloy as reported previously. Only depression of the wheel against the work resulted in chemical attrition of the abrasive and discoloration of the work surface, or grinding burn, due to oxidation of titanium. Even when the wheel was moved over the work, chip-formation process of the cutting edge was far from ideal, and the work surface was contaminated due to reaction of titanium with the abrasive. At a higher wheel circumferential speed, more chips were loaded or built-up in the wheel and strongly rubbed the work surface, resulting in violent wear of the wheel; loading and dislodging of such chips were repeated.