The grinding of tool steels with a diamond abrasive wheel

Abstract During the grinding of steels, diamond abrasive grains are thought to be worn away as a result of abrasive and chemical action between the grain and the workpiece materials. As the working grains in a wheel become blunter, the cutting forces acting on those grains increase in magnitude. The following work describes the results of plunge-type surface grinding tests performed with a metal-clad diamond abrasive, resinoid bonded grinding wheel on a series of tool steels. During the tests the grinding force components and the radial wear of the wheel are measured periodically. An analysis of the results obtained indicate that the steady-state wear rate of the wheel, for a given set of grinding conditions is related to the abrasive number (hardness) of the workpiece material and the rate of change of the normal component of force when grinding that material. Additionally an empirical formula is presented which relates the grinding ratio to the properties of the workpiece material expressed in terms of the abrasive number of that material and a term indicative of the excess or deficiency of carbon in the steel relative to the amount required to form recognized carbides with the major alloying elements.