Influence of conventional abrasive grain type on the surface integrity of ADI surface grinding

Abstract The ausferritic microstructure gives austempered ductile iron (ADI) high toughness, excellent wear resistance, and high fatigue strength. Despite these properties, the machinability of this material tends to decrease with higher carbon content in solution with iron. In addition to ADI’s microstructure, machining parameters play a crucial role in surface quality and structural integrity. However, literature is scarce on studies providing machinability data for ADI in surface grinding. This work aims to analyze surface finish and residual stress results for ADI grade 3 machined by surface grinding using conventional wheels. Grinding was performed with feed rates of 0.1 and 0.05 mm, speeds of 11, 14 and 16 m/min, and different wheel materials (sol–gel and silicon carbide). Subsequently, surface roughness was evaluated, and residual stresses were measured via X-ray diffraction. The study concluded that SiC wheels produced better surface quality than sol–gel Al₂O₃ wheels in ground samples. Conversely, abrasive grain type had a more significant impact on residual stress, with less compressive stresses observed in samples ground with sol–gel Al₂O₃.