Wear behavior of a new composite formulation, with TEOS addition, for abrasive vitrified grinding wheels

Abstract

Vitrified grinding wheels are used in many manufacturing industries to shape and finish metals and other materials in an efficient way. This work addresses a new approach with the use of tetraethyl orthosilicate solution (TEOS solution or silica sol), as an additive, in vitrified abrasive composites for grinding wheels. Different types of composite were produced using always the same materials and processing methods, but with different TEOS contents. Compared with a reference abrasive grinding wheel, the addition of TEOS promoted an improvement in the abrasive tool performance. The new formulation for vitrified abrasive composites showed better dimensional stability during processing (drying and sintering), and could be applied to the production of grinding tools with high dimensional accuracy. With the addition of 3.75 wt% of TEOS there was an increase in the strength of the matrix bonds. The porosity of the composite increased by 7% (from 43.6 to 46.9%), also improving its wear properties, with the quadrupling of the grinding ratio of the abrasive composite. In addition, the surface roughness of the composite decreased (from Ra = 22.9 to 8.4 μm) allowing to improve the surface finish of the workpieces.