Experimental study of abrasive process

According to most studies dealing with wear, abrasion can be considered on one hand as micro-cutting, leading to material removal (grinding), and on the other hand as micro-ploughing, leading to plastic deformation and lower material removal (abrasive wear). Understanding various flowing transitions around an abrasive particle, under well-established conditions, makes it possible to better control these processes. The aim of the present study is to understand plastic deformation and failure local phenomena induced by an abrasive process. Experimental studies have been carried out on an abrasive process which consists in scratching a soft flat surface (AISI4140 steel) by mean of a turning tool fixed on the periphery of a disc. Regulating angular and feed speeds, successive scratches are expected to study phenomena generated by a single pass of the cutting tool. Scratch topography and forces are measured in order to highlight the influence of the depth of cut and the cutting speed on these parameters and on specific energy.