Chapter 25:

Grinding and Other Abrasive Processes

Rizwan M. Gul
NWFP UET

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 GRINDING AND
OTHER ABRASIVE PROCESSES
• Grinding
• Related Abrasive Process
 Honing
 Lapping
 Superfinishing
 Polishing and Buffing

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 Abrasive Machining

• Material removal by action of hard, abrasive particles

usually in the form of a bonded wheel
• Generally used as finishing operations after part
geometry has been established by conventional
machining
• Grinding is most important abrasive processes
• Other abrasive processes: honing, lapping,
superfinishing, polishing, and buffing

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 Why Abrasive Processes are Important

• Historically one of the oldest material removal

process
• Can be used on all types of materials
• Some can produce extremely fine surface finishes, to
0.025 m (1 -in)
• Some can hold dimensions to extremely close
tolerances

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 Grinding

• Material removal process in which abrasive particles

are contained in a bonded grinding wheel that
operates at very high surface speeds
• Grinding wheel usually disk-shaped and precisely
balanced for high rotational speeds
• Cutting occurs on either the periphery or the face of
grinding wheel (periphery is more common)

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 Grinding Vs Milling and other processes

1. The abrasives grains in the wheel are much smaller

and more numerous than the teeth on a milling
cutter
2. Cutting speeds in grinding are much higher than in
milling
3. The abrasive grits in a grinding wheel are randomly
oriented and possesses on average very high
negative rake angle
4. Grinding wheel is self sharpening-as the wheel
wears, the abrasive particles become dull and either
fracture to create fresh cutting edge or pulled out of
the wheel to expose new grains

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 The Grinding Wheel
• Consists of abrasive particles and bonding material
 Abrasive particles accomplish cutting
 Bonding material holds particles in place and
establishes shape and structure of wheel

Grinding Wheel Parameters

1. Abrasive material
2. Grain size
3. Bonding material
4. Wheel structure
5. Wheel grade

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 1. Abrasive Material Properties

• High hardness
• Wear resistance
• Toughness
• Friability - capacity to fracture when cutting edge
dulls, so a new sharp edge is exposed

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 Traditional Abrasive Materials

• Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) - most common abrasive

 Used to grind steel and other ferrous high-strength
alloys
• Silicon carbide (SiC) - harder than Al2O3 but not as
tough
 Used on aluminum, brass, stainless steel, some
cast irons and certain ceramics

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 Newer Abrasive Materials

• Cubic boron nitride (cBN) – very hard, very expensive

 Suitable for steels
 Used for hard materials such as hardened tool
steels and aerospace alloys (e.g., Ni-based alloys)
• Diamond – Even harder, very expensive
 Occur naturally and also made synthetically
 Not suitable for grinding steels
 Used on hard, abrasive materials such as
ceramics, cemented carbides, and glass

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 Hardness of Abrasive Materials

Abrasive material Knoop hardness

Aluminum oxide 2100
Silicon carbide 2500
Cubic boron nitride 5000
Diamond (synthetic) 7000

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 2. Grain Size

• Small grit sizes produce better finishes

• Larger grit sizes permit larger material removal rates
• Harder work materials require smaller grain sizes to
cut effectively
• Softer materials require larger grit sizes

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 Measurement of Grain Size

• Grit size is measured using a screen mesh procedure

 Smaller grit sizes indicated by larger numbers in
the screen mesh procedure and vice versa
 Grain sizes in grinding wheels typically range
between 8 (very coarse) and 250 (very fine)

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 3. Bonding Material Properties

• Bonding material holds the abrasive grains and

establishes the shape and structural integrity of the
grinding wheel
• Must withstand centrifugal forces and high
temperatures
• Must resist shattering during shock loading of wheel
• Must hold abrasive grains rigidly in place for cutting
yet allow worn grains to be dislodged so new sharp
grains are exposed

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 Bonding Materials

• Vitrified bond:
 Baked clay and ceramic materials (most common)
• Silicate bond
 Sodium silicate
• Rubber bond
• Resinoid bond,
 Thermosetting resin materials
• Metallic bond
 Usually Bronze

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 4. Wheel Structure

• Refers to the relative spacing of abrasive grains in

wheel
• In addition to abrasive grains and bond material,
grinding wheels contain air gaps or pores
• Volumetric proportions of grains, bond material, and
pores can be expressed as:

Pg  Pb  Pp  1.0

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Figure 25.1 - Typical structure of a grinding wheel

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 Wheel Structure
• Measured on a scale that ranges between "open"
and "dense."
 Open structure means Pp is relatively large and Pg
is relatively small - recommended when clearance
for chips must be provided
 Dense structure means Pp is relatively small and
Pg is larger - recommended to obtain better
surface finish and dimensional control

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 5. Wheel Grade

• Indicates bond strength in retaining abrasive grits

during cutting
• Depends on amount of bonding material in wheel
structure (Pb)
• Measured on a scale ranging between soft and hard
 Soft" wheels lose grains readily - used for low
material removal rates and hard work materials
 Hard wheels retain grains - used for high stock
removal rates and soft work materials

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 Grinding Wheel Specification
• Standard grinding wheel marking system used to designate
abrasive type, grit size, grade, structure, and bond material
 Example: A-46-H-6-V
• Also provides for additional identifications for use by grinding
wheel manufacturers

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 Figure 25.2 - Some of the standard grinding wheel shapes:
(a) straight, (b) recessed two sides, (c) metal wheel frame with abrasive
bonded to outside circumference, (d) abrasive cut- off wheel

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Surface Grinding

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 Surface Finish

• Most grinding is performed to achieve good surface

finish
• Best surface finish is achieved by:
 Small grain sizes
 Higher wheel speeds
 Denser wheel structure = more grits per wheel
area

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Why Specific Energy in Grinding is High?

1. Size effect - small chip size causes energy to

remove each unit volume of material to be
significantly higher - roughly 10 times higher
2. Individual grains have extremely negative rake
angles, resulting in low shear plane angles and high
shear strains
3. Not all grits are engaged in actual cutting

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 Three Types of Grain Action
• Cutting - grit projects far enough into surface to form
a chip - material is removed
• Plowing - grit projects into work, but not far enough
to cut - instead, surface is deformed and energy is
consumed, but no material is removed
• Rubbing - grit contacts surface but only rubbing
friction occurs, thus consuming energy, but no
material is removed

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Figure 25.4 - Three types of grain action in grinding:
(a) cutting, (b) plowing, and (c) rubbing

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 Temperatures at the Work Surface
• Grinding is characterized by high temperatures and
high friction, and most of the energy remains in the
ground surface, resulting in high work surface
temperatures
• Damaging effects include:
 Surface burns and cracks
 Metallurgical damage immediately beneath the
surface
 Softening of the work surface if heat treated
 Residual stresses in the work surface

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How to Reduce Work Surface Temperatures

• Decrease infeed (depth of cut) d

• Reduce wheel speed v
• Reduce number of active grits per square inch on the
grinding wheel C
• Increasing work speed vw
• Use a cutting fluid

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 Causes of Wheel Wear - 1

Grain fracture - when a portion of the grain breaks off,

but the rest remains bonded in the wheel
• Edges of the fractured area become new cutting
edges
• Tendency to fracture is called friability

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 Causes of Wheel Wear - 2

Attritious wear - dulling of individual grains, resulting in

flat spots and rounded edges
• Analogous to tool wear in conventional cutting tool
• Caused by similar mechanisms including friction,
diffusion, and chemical reactions

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 Causes of Wheel Wear - 3

Bond fracture - the individual grains are pulled out of

the bonding material
• Depends on wheel grade, among other factors
• Usually occurs because grain has become dull due to
attritious wear, and resulting cutting force becomes
excessive

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Figure 25.5 - Typical wear curve of a grinding wheel. Wear
is conveniently plotted as a function of volume of
material removed, rather than as a function of time
(based on [13])

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 Grinding Ratio

• Indicates slope of the wheel wear curve

VW
GR 
Vg
where GR = grinding ratio; Vw = volume of work
material removed; and Vg = corresponding volume of
grinding wheel worn
• Typical values of GR ranges between 95 and 125,
which is about five orders of magnitude less than in
conventional machining

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 Dressing the Wheel
• The tool is resharpened by a procedure called
dressing
Dressing - accomplished by rotating disk, abrasive
stick, or another grinding wheel operating at high
speed held against the wheel being dressed as it
rotates
• Functions:
 Breaks off dulled grits to expose new sharp grains
 Removes chips clogged in the wheel
• Required when wheel is in third region of wear curve

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 Truing the Wheel

Truing - use of a diamond-pointed tool fed slowly and

precisely across wheel as it rotates
• Very light depth is taken (0.025 mm or less) against
the wheel
• Not only sharpens wheel, but restores cylindrical
shape and insures straightness across outside
perimeter
 Although dressing sharpens, it does not guarantee
the shape of the wheel

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 Application Guidelines - I
• To optimize surface finish, select
 Small grit size and dense wheel structure
 Use higher wheel speeds (v) and lower work
speeds (vw)
 Smaller depths of cut (d) and larger wheel
diameters (D) will also help
• To maximize material removal rate, select
 Large grit size
 More open wheel structure
 Vitrified bond

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 Application Guidelines - II
• For grinding steel and most cast irons, select
 Aluminum oxide as the abrasive
• For grinding most nonferrous metals, select
 Silicon carbide as the abrasive
• For grinding hardened tool steels and certain
aerospace alloys, choose
 Cubic boron nitride as the abrasive
• For grinding hard abrasive materials such as
ceramics, cemented carbides, and glass, choose
 Diamond as the abrasive

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 Application Guidelines - III

• For soft metals, choose

 Large grit size and harder grade wheel
• For hard metals, choose
 Small grit size and softer grade wheel

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 Grinding Operation

1. Surface Grinding
2. Cylindrical Grinding
3. Centerless Grinding
4. Creep Feed Grinding
5. Other Grinding Operations

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Surface
Grinding

Figure 25.7 - Four types of surface grinding: (a) horizontal spindle with
reciprocating worktable, (b) horizontal spindle with rotating worktable,
(c) vertical spindle with reciprocating worktable,
and (d) vertical spindle with rotating worktable

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Figure 25.8 - Surface grinder with horizontal spindle and
reciprocating worktable (most common grinder type)

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 Cylindrical Grinding

Figure 25.9 - Two types of cylindrical grinding:

(a) external, and (b) internal

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 Centerless Grinding

Figure 25.11 - External centerless grinding

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 Creep Feed Grinding

Figure 25.13 - Comparison of (a) conventional surface

grinding and (b) creep feed grinding

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 Creep Feed Grinding

• Depths of cut 1000 to 10,000 times greater than in

conventional surface grinding
• Feed rates reduced by about the same proportion
• Material removal rate and productivity are increased
in creep feed grinding because the wheel is
continuously cutting
• In conventional surface grinding, wheel is engaged in
cutting for only a portion of the stroke length

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Page 46
 Honing
• An abrasive process performed by a set of bonded
abrasive sticks
• Uses a combination of rotational and oscillatory
motions so that a given point on the abrasive stick
does not trace the same path repeatedly
• Common application is to finish the bores of internal
combustion engines. Other applications include
bearings, hydraulic cylinders and gun barrels
• Grit sizes range between 30 and 600
• Surface finishes of 0.12 m (5 -in) or better
• Creates a characteristic cross-hatched surface (due
to complex motion of the tool) that retains lubrication

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Figure 25.16 - The honing process: (a) the honing tool used for
internal bore surface, and (b) cross-hatched surface pattern
created by the action of the honing tool

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 Lapping
• An abrasive process that uses a fluid suspension of
very small abrasive particles (instead of bonded
wheel) between workpiece and lap (tool)
• Produces surface finishes of extreme accuracy and
smoothness
• Lapping compound - fluid with abrasives, general
appearance of a chalky paste
• Lap has the reverse of the desired shape of the
workpart
• Typical grit sizes between 300 to 600 and material
include alumina and silicon carbide
• Applications: optical lenses, metallic bearing
surfaces, gages

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Figure 25.17 - The lapping process in lens-making

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 Superfinishing

• Similar to honing - uses bonded abrasive stick

pressed against surface and reciprocating motion to
achieve surface finishes around 0.025 m
• Differences with honing:
 Shorter strokes (5 mm)
 Higher frequencies (up to 1500 strokes/minute)
 Lower pressures between tool and surface
 Workpiece speeds are lower
 Smaller grit sizes

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Figure 25.18 - Superfinishing on an
external cylindrical surface

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 Polishing and Buffing

• Polishing is used to remove scratches and burrs and

to smooth rough surfaces by means of abrasive
grains attached to a polishing wheel rotating at high
speeds

• Buffing is used to provide attractive surfaces with

high luster
• Buffing wheels are made of soft materials like leather,
felt, cotton etc
• The abrasives are very fine and are contained in a
buffing compound that is pressed into the outside of
the wheel while it rotates

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 Home Work # 4

Each product and component in an assembly has to go

through a sequence of manufacturing processes to convert
the raw material into the required form. This assignment will
provide you an opportunity to explore the sequence of
manufacturing processes required to form a product.

You will have to select a product or component of an

assembly, and make a schematic diagram (hand-drawn)
illustrating the different features required in the component.
A picture (photograph) will also have to be pasted. A flow
diagram identifying the sequence of manufacturing
processes required to make the product along with a short
description of each step to produce the required feature will
have to be included in the report.

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