Investigation of the performance characteristics of grinding wheel using low melting vitrified bonds

Abstract

The performance of a grinding wheel is greatly determined by its structure which in turn is influenced by the characteristics of the bonding material. Vitrified bonds were used in 50% of the wheels, which are mixtures of clay, feldspar and fusible materials. Vitrified wheels were fired at temperatures >1270°C. The main aim of this work is to focus on the feasibility of a low melting bonding material that would render the wheels a better or comparatively closer performance level than that of the conventional wheels, thereby attempting to reduce fuel and time consumption. Suitable low melting bonds were chosen based on the results of fusibility tests and chemical analysis, and their properties such as density, sound index (SI) and Young's modulus (YM) were evaluated. Performance characteristics were investigated through a cylindrical grinding test and compared along with the standard wheel. Attempts have been made to reduce the size of bonds to improve their properties, and the results obtained were promising.