Study on design and performance of metal-bonded diamond grinding wheels fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM)

Abstract

Porous metal-bonded grinding wheels with high porosity and controllable pore shape, size, quantity and distribution are in great demand but hard to realize for traditional process. In this study, the novel method is proposed to fabricate porous metal-bonded grinding wheels based on selective laser melting technology. Three kinds of grinding wheels, including octahedron structure wheel, honeycomb structure wheel and solid structure wheel, are designed and fabricated using this novel method. Additionally, morphological characterization is conducted in terms of porous structure, microstructure and bonding condition. Furthermore, grinding performance is evaluated in terms of grinding force, material removal rate, ground surface roughness and hardness. Experimental results indicate that the SLM-fabricated grinding wheels possess the excellent dressing and self-sharpening ability, good bonding strength, controllable pore structure, high porosity and good comprehensive grinding performance. Compared with electroplated wheel, better machined surface roughness and slighter work hardening can be achieved by the SLM-fabricated wheels based on the similar material removal capacity. Among the SLM-fabricated wheels, octahedron structure wheel possesses the smallest extrusion and friction force, the highest instantaneous cutting force and the slightest work hardening, and solid structure wheel possesses the largest material removal rate.