ABRASIVE MACHINING

ABRASIVE MACHINING is a material removal process that involves the interaction of

abrasive grits with the work-piece at high cutting speeds and shallow penetration depths.

Abrasive machining is among the final steps in the production of parts and is an
important series of processes because of its capability to impart high dimensional accuracy
and surface finish.
The results that can be obtained by abrasive machining range from the finest and
smoothest surfaces produced by any machining process, in which very little material is
removed, to rough, coarse surfaces that accompany high material removal rates.
The abrasive particles may be (1) free; (2) mounted in resin on a belt (called coated
product); or, (3) close packed into wheels or stones, with abrasive grits held together by
bonding material (called bonded product or a grinding wheel).
 ABRASIVE
An abrasive is a hard material that can cut or abrade other substances. Natural abrasives
have existed from the earliest times. For example, sandstone was used by ancient peoples
to sharpen tools and weapons.
Emery, a mixture of alumina (Al2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4), is another natural abrasive
still in use today and is used on coated paper and cloth (emery paper).

Corundum (natural Al2O3) and diamonds are other naturally occurring abrasive materials.
Hardness is the key property for an abrasive. In addition to hardness, two other
properties are significant in abrasive grits— attrition and friability . Friability is defined as
the ability of abrasive grains to fracture (break down) into smaller pieces.

This property gives abrasives their self sharpening characteristics, which are essential in
maintaining their sharpness during use. The particles must be able to decompose at
elevated temperatures. Attrition refers to the abrasive wear action of the grits resulting in
dulled edges, grit flattening, and wheel glazing.
Abrasives that are used most commonly in abrasive-machining operations are as follows:
Conventional abrasives Super abrasives
° Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) Cubic boron nitride (CBN)
° Silicon carbide (SiC) Diamond
 ABRASIVE GRAIN SIZE
Abrasive grains are selected according to the mesh of a sieve through which they are
sorted. For example, grain number 40 indicates that the abrasive grain passes through a
sieve having approximately 40 meshes to the linear inch. A grinding wheel is designated
coarse, medium, or fine according to the size of the individual abrasive grains making up
the wheel.
GRINDING PROCESS
Grinding is one of the abrasive machining process. A grinding wheel is made up of
thousands of tiny abrasive particles embedded in a matrix called the ‘bond’. The edges of the
abrasive particles project out of the periphery of the grinding wheel, and when grinding
wheel rotates, each one of the particles acts like a tiny cutting tool machining away the
material from the surface of the work piece.
The grinding process is capable of producing very accurate sizes, equally accurate geometry like
flatness or circularity and extremely good surface finish. The grinding wheel is capable of
machining hardened steel and even hardened high speed steel, which cannot be done by
other machining processes.
When a grinding wheel is applied to the work-piece, the sharp edges of the abrasive
grains which are cutting, will eventually loose their cutting effect and become dull. At that
stage, the abrasive grain should either split and form new edges or it should break away
from the wheel exposing the next layer of grains to do their work. If the dulled grains
 GRINDING WHEEL IDENTIFICATION

Standard bonded-abrasive wheel-marking system (ANSI Standard B74.13-1977)

To improve dimension control on cylindrical parts, centerless grinders, which use long
cylindrical wheels, are employed. The axis of the regulating wheel and grinding wheel
are slightly misaligned, causing the part to travel slowly in the axial direction, and after
some time, the part automatically moves beyond the length of the wheel. Controlling the
angle of misalignment can control the time that the part is subjected to grinding
 HONING AND LAPPING
Honing is a finishing operation used to improve the form tolerance of an internal
cylindrical surface – in particular, it is used to improve the cylindricity . The honing tool
is a metal bar holding a set of grinding stones arranged in a circular pattern. The tool
brushes along the cylindrical part surface by rotating, and moving up-and-down along its axis.
You can identify a honed surface by looking for the helical cross-hatched scratch marks
on the part surface.
Lapping is a finishing operation. The lapping tool is made of metal, leather, or cloth,
impregnated with very fine abrasive particles. For preparing the surface of silicon wafers,
lapping operations use a flat metal disc that rotates a small distance above the part. The
gap is filled with a slurry containing fine abrasive grains. The rotation of the disc causes
the slurry to flow relative to the part surface, resulting in very fine surface finish. This
process gives dimensional tolerances of ≥ 0.5(micron), and surface finish of up to 0.1
(Micron).
 WORKHOLDING DEVICES
Workholding devices, often called jigs and fixtures, are critical components in the manufacturing
of interchangeable parts. Workholders hold and locate the work in the machine tool with respect
to the cutting tool.
In recent years, workholding devices have become more flexible; that is, (1) able to hold more
than one part and (2) able to be quickly exchanged. Flexible workholders are critical elements,
and are capable to change from one device to another quickly to accommodate different parts
means smaller lot sizes can be run, which reduces inventory levels in plants. These flexibility
requirements add significantly to the complexity of conventional jig and fixture design.

In the design of the workholding devices, two primary functions must be considered: locating and
clamping. Locating refers to orienting and positioning the part in the machine tool with respect to
the cutting tools to achieve the required specifications. Clamping refers to holding or maintaining
the part in that location during the cutting operations (resisting the cutting forces).

Jigs and fixtures are specially designed and built workholding devices that hold the work during
machining or assembly operations. In addition, a jig determines a location dimension that is
produced by machining or fastening. For example, location dimensions determine the position of
a hole on a plate (Figure 25-2).
 WORKHOLDING DEVICES
Consider the subject of dimensioning as used in drafting practice. Dimensions are of two types:
size and location. Size dimensions denote the size of geometrical shapes—holes, cubes,
parallelepipeds, and so on—of which objects are composed. Location dimensions, on the other
hand, determine the position or location of these geometrical shapes with respect to each other.
Thus a and c in Figure 25-2 are location dimensions, whereas e and g are size dimensions. With
location dimensions in mind, one can precisely define a jig as follows: A jig is a special
workholding device that, through built-in features, determines location dimensions that are
produced by machining or fastening operations. The key requirement of a jig is that it determine a
location dimension. Thus, jigs accomplish layout by means of their design. Similarly, jigs usually
hold the work that is to be machined, fastened, or assembled.
 WORKHOLDING DEVICES
A fixture is a special workholding device that holds work during machining or assembly
operations and establishes size dimensions. The key characteristic is that it is a special
workholding device, designed and constructed for a particular part or shape. A general-purpose
device, such as a chuck in a lathe or a clamp on a milling machine table, is usually not
considered to be a fixture. Thus a fixture has as its specific objective the facilitating of setup, or
making the part holding easier. Because many jigs hold the work while determining critical
location dimensions, they usually meet all the requirements of a fixture.
DESIGN CONSIDERATION IN WORKHOLDING DEVICES
 OTHER WORKHOLDING DEVICES
ASSEMBLY JIGS
Because assembly jigs usually must provide for the introduction of several component parts and
the use of some type of fastening equipment, such as welding or riveting, they commonly are of
the open-frame type. Such jigs are widely used in automobile body
welding and aircraft assembly.
MAGNETIC WORKHOLDERS
Because of the light cuts and low cutting forces, work pieces can be held in a different manner on
surface grinders than on other machine tools. Magnetic chucks are used for ferromagnetic
materials. To obtain high accuracy, it is desirable to reduce clamping forces and distribute them
over the entire area of the work piece. Magnetic workholding devices are good for small,
duplicate work pieces. Magnetic chucks are available in disk or rectangular shapes. Dry-disk
rectifiers are used to provide the necessary direct-current power. Some magnetic chucks utilize
permanent magnets and can be tilted so that angles can be ground.
Magnetic chucks provide an excellent means of holding work pieces provided that the cutting or
inertial forces are not too great. The clamping stresses are low, and therefore there is little
tendency for the work to be distorted. Consequently, pieces can be held and ground accurately.
Parts loading and unloading is also relatively easy. It often is necessary to demagnetize work that
has been held on a magnetic chuck. Some electrically powered chucks provide satisfactory
demagnetization by reversing the direct current briefly when the power is shut off.
 OTHER WORKHOLDING DEVICES
ELECTROSTATIC WORKHOLDERS
Magnetic chucks can be used only with ferromagnetic materials. Electrostatic chucks can be
used with any electrically conductive material. This principle directs that work be held by mutually
attracting electrostatic fields in the chuck and the workpiece. Nonmetal parts can usually be held
if they are flashed (i.e., coated) with a thin layer of metal. These chucks have the added
advantage of not inducing residual magnetism in the work.
VACUUM CHUCKS
In one type, vacuum chuck, the holes in the work plate are connected to a vacuum pump and can
be opened or closed by means of valve screws. The valves are opened in the area on which the
work is to rest. The other type has a porous plate on which the work rests. The workpiece and
plate are covered with a polyethylene sheet. When the vacuum is turned on, the film forms
around the workpiece, covering and sealing the holes not covered by the workpiece and thus
producing a seal. The film covering the workpiece is removed or the first cut removes the film
covering the workpiece. Vacuum chucks have the advantage that they can be used on both
nonmetals and metals and can provide an easily variable force. Magnetic, electrostatic, and
vacuum chucks are used for some light milling and turning operations.