Grinding efficiency and profile accuracy of diamond grinding wheels dressed with wire electrical discharge conditioning (WEDC)

Super abrasive diamond grinding wheels are the most promising tools for the precision machining of advanced ceramics and carbide materials. However, the efficiency of conventional conditioning of these tools is limited owing to high dressing tool wear, long process time, low form flexibility, and induced damage to the abrasive grains. Wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) is an alternative method for conditioning of superabrasive grinding wheels with electrically conductive bonding materials. In this study, cylindrical plunge grinding of an alumina ceramic with a resin-bonded diamond grinding wheel is investigated. The assigned type of resin bond contains copper particles and is accordingly electrically conductive for wire electrical discharge conditioning (WEDC). Conventional (mechanical) and WEDC methods are used for generating the same profile on two similar diamond grinding wheels. As a result, the specific grinding energy was reduced up to 26% and 29% during rough and finish plunge grinding, respectively. Reduced specific grinding energy and forces, along with more effective grain protrusion and sharpness by using WEDC for profiling of grinding wheels, have contributed positively to the ground surface conditions despite the relatively rougher wheel surface topography in comparison to the conventional profiling. The more considerable reduction in the mean roughness depth (Rz) than in the arithmetical mean roughness value (Ra) (11% smaller Rz values in WEDC versus mechanical conditioning) verifies that the workpiece surface underwent less surface degradation in case of WEDC because of smaller grinding forces. Furthermore, the profile wear behavior of the workpiece ground with the WED conditioned grinding wheel was superior to the conventionally conditioned one.

Evaluation of well-defined tool surface designs for groundwood pulping

Groundwood pulping is a process in which logs are pressed against a rotating grinding stone. A conventional grinding stone is generally made of grinding particles in a vitrified matrix. As the particles are practically round, their contact with the wood is limited to occasional point contacts. The interaction between the particles and the wood occurs at random positions and at random times, only intermittently contributing to the defibration process. In this work, well-defined grinding tools with asperities giving line contacts rather than point contacts were tested. The tool surface asperities were elongated in shape and positioned with different density over the surface. The tools were tested in a lab-scale equipment at elevated temperatures, and their performance was compared to that of a conventional grinding stone. The grinding mechanisms varied between the different tools, and the specific grinding energy was reduced compared to the conventional tool.

Study on Honing Mechanism of Gear Surface Using an Internal Honing Wheel Based on Single-Particle Abrasive

Based on geometry model of single abrasive particle, comparing abrasive geometries of different materials displayed in SEM images, it is proposed that abrasive geometry is similar to inverted cone with vertex radius in sphere. Based on abrasives with inverted cone geometry, through introducing sliding ratio, mathematical models of cutting force and specific grinding energy of single abrasive have been established to study about cutting force in meshing line of single abrasive; in accordance with specific grinding energy of single abrasive, combined with internal meshing principle, the relationship among specific grinding energy, engagement, and meshing line length l have been studied. Through simulation analysis, it is shown that the unit normal force of single abrasive in whole meshing line gradually increases from tooth top to pitch line and tooth root; the greater the value of l from pitch line to tooth top, the more the specific grinding energy accordingly; however the greater the value of l from pitch line to tooth root, the smaller the specific grinding energy therewith; the greater the engagement, the smaller the specific grinding energy which tends to stable with changing of l.

A Study on Grinding Brittle Material with Pattern-Dressed Wheel

The high hardness of brittle materials always make it hard to machine with traditional grinding wheels. Conventionally a diamond grinding wheels was used to improve the poor processing capability. Usually the specific grinding energy had been used as an indicator of machinability. According to its definition, the specific grinding energy increases with the active contact area of the grinding wheel decreases. In other words, reducing the surface contact area of the grinding wheel can enhance the specific grinding energy effectively. Conditioning grooves on grinding wheels not only enhance the specific grinding energy, but also achieve the effect of reducing the heat dissipated during the grinding processes. With the proper selection parameters, the high cost of diamond grinding wheel may be replaced by less expensive conventional green carbon and aluminum oxide wheel. In this studies, the relationship between the surface topography of grinding wheels and the grinding capability of brittle materials was investigated. The results show that, the traditional grinding wheel dressing properly while the depth of cut less than 20μm with the rhombic pattern and the depth of cut more than 20μm with the groove-like pattern can grind the brittle materials as good as using diamond wheel.

Dental Grinding of Lithium Disilicate Ceramic Prostheses Using High-Speed Rotary Cutting Instruments in In Vitro Oral Adjusting

Oral adjusting of ceramic prostheses involving abrasive machining using dental high-speed rotary cutting instruments is a central process in restorative dentistry, because this process affects not only restorative quality but also patients’ comfort. However, the dental grinding process, especially dental grinding of high-strength ceramic prostheses, is less understood in clinical dentistry. This paper presents dental grinding of an innovative high-strength lithium disilicate ceramic in in vitro oral adjusting regime using a dental high-speed electric handpiece and diamond burs. The dental abrasive machining characteristics were quantitatively evaluated in terms of normal and tangential forces, force ratio, and specific grinding energy as functions of clinically relevant dental grinding variables including depth of cut and feed rate and feed direction of burs. The results showed that the dental tangential and normal forces and specific grinding energy exhibited significant dependences on depth of cut, feed rate and direction of burs, but revealed significantly small scales compared to engineering machining regime. Clinical implication was given that down grinding undoubtedly reduced the abrasive adjusting forces to relieve patients’ discomfort in oral regime. Moreover, dentists must be cautious in dental abrasive adjusting of the lithium disilicate ceramic prostheses at or beyond the specific material removal rate of 2.4 mm3/min due to significantly large forces and vibrations.