Experimental study on grinding forces and specific energy in three different environments of grinding carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide composite

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are a new class of high technology materials which can be utilized as a replacement for metallic super-alloys. CMCs have a vast array of applications in modern industries due to their upstanding properties, including low density, relatively high hardness and fracture toughness, and high corrosion and wear resistance. Extremely high hardness and inhomogeneous structure of CMCs cause unstable process and high grinding forces and temperature. This research was conducted in order to overcome the grinding challenges of these composites by recognizing and analyzing the effects of main process parameters comprising cutting speed, feed speed, and depth of cut on the grinding forces, specific energy, and grinding force ratio in three different environments including dry, wet and MQL grinding. To evaluate the significance of input parameters and their influence on the responses and also to derive predicting equations, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed. It was concluded that MQL technique is the most efficient cooling-lubrication method where implementation of this process reduces the tangential grinding force by 38.88% and normal grinding force by 31.16%, relative to dry grinding; however, the amount of force reduction in wet grinding is 34.22% for tangential grinding force and 24.81% for normal grinding force, relative to dry grinding. In addition, increase of cutting speed leads to reduced grinding forces and force ratio and higher amounts of specific energy, and also increase of feed speed and depth of cut cause higher grinding forces and force ratio and lower amounts of specific energy.