What are Grinding Wheels Used For

Grinding wheels are made up of abrasive grains and fiberglass that are bonded by an adhesive material to form a wheel. The abrasive grains serve as grinding and extracting material from a workpiece so that it can be formed and refined. 

There are different types of abrasive wheels each designed for different grinding and machining jobs. A standard grinding wheel generally has five main characteristics and what are they? Let’s know,

Characteristics of Grinding Wheel

The five main features of a grinding wheel include abrasive grain size, material hardness, grain spacing, wheel grade, and bond type.

Material hardness

The hardness of the workpiece material determines the abrasive material of a grinding wheel. The main abrasive gains used for cutting wheels are

• Aluminum oxide
• Silicon carbide
• Ceramic
• Diamond
• Cubic boron nitride

Modern cutting industries involve applications of super abrasives. These super abrasives are designed with diamond and CBN grains. A traditional cutting wheel is designed with aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, or ceramic abrasive grain.

Grain size

A scale of 10 to 600 (finest) coarse determines the size of the abrasive grains. Large size grains cut more freely, resulting in faster cutting but a lower surface finish. Ultra-fine grain sizes are required for precision finishing.

Wheel grade

Almost every component of grinding is affected by the wheel grade you choose whether it is wheel speed, coolant conditioning, high and low speed, or depth of grinding.

Grain Density

Grain density is defined as the ratio of bond and abrasive grain on the wheel surface. An abrasive wheel with low grain density cuts more effectively and also impacts the surface finishing. It can cut a deeper or wider cut with less coolant because of high chip clearance.

Wheel bond

Wheel bonding can be defined as how abrasives and wheels are bonded together. This affects the finishing, cooling, and wheel speed (minimum or maximum).

Applications of Grinding Wheel

The grinding wheels are designed with very fine abrasives for more efficient grinding of metals. Bonded abrasive wheels are widely used for metal cutting, grinding, finishing, and many more industrial applications.

Grinding wheels are abrasive coated wheels for different cutting and grinding applications. These wheels are used to cut and polish various metal and other workpieces in the industrial industry. Complex workpieces are often cut and molded using grinding wheels.

Because grinding wheels are more efficient than other types of abrasive wheels, they are more popular. The following are the two types of abrasive grain that are commonly used for cutting applications:

• Silicon Carbide 

Silicon carbide is a sharp and hard grain. These grains are used to cut soft materials such as grey cast iron, bronze, copper, aluminum, and brass.

Aluminum oxide is less hard but more tough grain than silicon carbide. These grains are used to cut and grind hard materials such as metal alloy, hardened steel, iron, bronze, and other similar materials.

Read: Ceramic vs Aluminum Oxide vs Zirconia Abrasive Grains

Grinding Wheel Benefits

Grinding can be defined as the process of shaping or material finishing with solid abrasive wheels. The following are the key advantages of using grinding wheels:

• Can cut hardened steel
• Provide smooth finishing
• Less time consumption
• Maintain accuracy & perfections
• Requires low pressure
• High-quality alloy & steel cutting
• Enhances Grinding productivity