Polishing Knowledge for Titanium Alloy Screws
Aug 12, 2025
As industrial products move towards diversification and higher-end quality, improving mold quality, which directly impacts product quality, is a crucial task. In titanium alloy screw mold manufacturing, smoothing and mirroring after shaping are called surface grinding and polishing, and they are crucial processes for improving mold quality. Mastering appropriate polishing techniques can improve the quality and service life of titanium alloy screw molds, thereby enhancing product quality.
Common Polishing Methods and Working Principles
01 Mechanical Polishing
Mechanical polishing is a polishing method that removes protrusions on the workpiece surface by cutting or plastically deforming the material surface to achieve a smooth surface. Typically, tools such as oilstones, wool wheels, and sandpaper are used, primarily manually. For high-quality surface finishes, ultra-fine polishing can be used. Ultra-fine polishing uses a specially designed grinding tool, pressed against the workpiece surface in a polishing solution containing abrasives, and rotated at high speed. This technique can achieve a surface roughness of Ra 0.008 μm, the highest among various polishing methods. This method is often used for optical lens molds. Mechanical polishing is the primary method for mold polishing. 02 Chemical Polishing
Chemical polishing involves preferentially dissolving microscopically protruding areas of a material's surface in a chemical medium over concave areas, resulting in a smooth surface. This method is suitable for polishing complex workpieces and can polish multiple workpieces simultaneously, resulting in high efficiency. The surface roughness achieved by chemical polishing is typically Ra 10 μm.
03 Electrolytic Polishing
The basic principle of electrolytic polishing is the same as that of chemical polishing: it selectively dissolves microscopic protrusions on the material's surface to smooth the surface. Compared to chemical polishing, it eliminates the effects of cathodic reactions, resulting in better results.
04 Ultrasonic Polishing
Ultrasonic polishing utilizes ultrasonic vibrations on the tool surface to polish brittle and hard materials through an abrasive suspension. The workpiece is placed in an abrasive suspension and exposed to an ultrasonic field. The oscillation of the ultrasound waves causes the abrasive to grind and polish the workpiece surface. Ultrasonic machining produces low macroscopic forces and does not cause workpiece deformation, but tooling fabrication and installation are more difficult.
05 Fluid Polishing
Fluid polishing uses a flowing liquid and the abrasive particles it carries to scour the workpiece surface to achieve the desired polishing effect. Fluid dynamic grinding is driven by hydraulic pressure. The medium is primarily made of a special compound (polymer-like substance) that flows well under low pressure and is mixed with abrasives. Silicon carbide powder can be used as the abrasive.
06 Magnetic Abrasive Polishing
Magnetic abrasive polishing uses magnetic abrasives to form an abrasive brush under the influence of a magnetic field, which is then used to grind the workpiece. This method offers high efficiency, high quality, and easy-to-control processing conditions. With the appropriate abrasive, surface roughness can reach Ra 0.1 μm.
07 Electrospark Ultrasonic Composite Polishing
To increase the polishing speed of workpieces with a surface roughness Ra of 1.6 μm or higher, this method utilizes ultrasonic waves combined with a dedicated high-frequency, narrow-pulse, high-peak current pulse power supply. Ultrasonic vibrations and the erosion effects of the electric pulses simultaneously act on the workpiece surface, rapidly reducing surface roughness. This method is highly effective for polishing rough mold surfaces after turning, milling, electrospark, and wire cutting processes.
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