Use of Abrasives in the Machining Industry

The machining industry is seen everywhere, such as textile machinery equipment, crushing machinery equipment, machinery manufacturing, etc. The overall strength of the machining industry is an important component of the comprehensive national strength, while machining level is reflective of national comprehensive power. The abrasives industry has been recognized as the "teeth” of the manufacturing industry, so it is of indispensable importance. Generally speaking, ordinary materials processing can be fulfilled by common procedures. For new-generation materials, such as ceramics, metal ceramics, composite materials, whisker reinforced materials, alloy steel, etc., require the aid of grinding and abrasive tools to be processed effectively. As an important branch in the machining industry, the abrasives industry plays a vital role.

The Features of Ground Finish

The abrasive and abrasive products in the machining industry are mainly used for ground finish, the features of which include the following points:

1. High cutting speed. The general speed of cylindrical grinding is 35m/s; the speed of high-speed grinding is over 50m/s. 80% to 90% of the heat produced during ground finish is afferent to the workpiece (about 10% to 15% to the grinding wheel; 1% to 10% is brought away by the abrasive dust). Since the grinding wheel is poor in heat radiation, to avoid workpiece surface burn and micro cracks, large amount of cutting compound should be used to lower down the grinding temperature.

2. Ground finish can achieve high-precision and small surface roughness value. Its machining precision can reach IT6 to IT14; the surface roughness value can reach Ra0.8 to 0.02μm . The methods of grinding include finish machining , coarse grinding, snagging, and heavy duty grinding.

3. The dorsal grinding force is strong because the abrasives negative force is large, and the rounded cutting edge radius is also large, which contribute to dorsal grinding force larger than the tangential grinding force, and in turn result in the larger contact width of grinding wheels and the workpiece. The workpiece, fixture, and machine tool are likely to confront elastic deformation that may have an effect on machining precision. Therefore, when processing workpiece with poor rigidity, such as grinding slender axle, corresponding measures should be taken to prevent workpiece from deformation and affect machining precision.

Mechanical Lapping

Another important application field of abrasive and abrasive products in the machining industry is lapping. Mechanical lapping is generally used for high bulk and high requirement workpieces. Before lapping, the workpiece usually goes through preprocess, such as finish grinding. The lapping allowance is often 0.005mm to 0.03mm. After mechanical lapping, the workpiece's precision can reach IT5 to 01; the surface roughness can reach 0.63 micron to 0.01 micron.

Mechanical lapping can be used for processing various kinds of surfaces, including metal materials and non-metal materials, such as flat surfaces, cylindrical surface, circular conical surface, flank of thread, tooth surface, and spherical surface. The hardness of lapping tools should be less harder than the workpiece. Usually the tools include cast iron, mild steel, brass, red copper, etc. Lapping compound is a mixture of abrasive and grease, the form of which includes liquid, paste and solid. To reduce cutting heat, lapping is usually processed under low pressure and low speed.

There are a lot more applications of abrasive and abrasive products in the machining industry. More relevant information is available at: http://www.iabrasive.com/articles. 

Author: Liwei Chu
Copyright: iAbrasive.com--Abrasives & Diamond Tools Market