Bonded abrasive articles, method of forming such articles, and grinding performance of such articles

Abstract

An abrasive tool having a bonded abrasive body including abrasive grains contained within a bond material comprising a metal. During a grinding operation, the bonded abrasive body has a power variance [(Po−Pn)/Po]×100% of not greater than about 40%, wherein Po represents the grinding power to grind a workpiece with the bonded abrasive body at an initial grinding cycle and Pn represents the grinding power to grind the workpiece for a nth grinding cycle, wherein n>4.

1 . An abrasive tool comprising:
 a bonded abrasive body having abrasive grains contained within a bond material comprising a metal; and   wherein during a non-dressed grinding operation the bonded abrasive body has a power variance [(Po−Pn)/Po]×100% of not greater than about 40%, wherein Po represents the grinding power to grind a workpiece with the bonded abrasive body at an initial grinding cycle and Pn represents the grinding power to grind the workpiece for a n th  grinding cycle, wherein n≧4.   
     
     
         2 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a ratio of V AG /V BM  of at least about 1.3, wherein V AG  is a volume percent of abrasive grains within a total volume of the body and V BM  is a volume percent of bond material within the total volume of the body. 
     
     
         3 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the bonded abrasive body has a power variance [(Po−Pn)/Po]×100% of not greater than about 30%. 
     
     
         4 - 6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein n≧6. 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the grinding operation includes at least 5 consecutive grinding cycles without truing of the bonded abrasive body. 
     
     
         10 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the grinding operation is conducted at a material removal rate (MRR′) of at least about 1.0 in 3 /min/in. 
     
     
         11 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein during grinding the bonded abrasive body is operated at a speed of at least about 1500 sfpm. 
     
     
         18 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the grinding operation is a plunge grinding operation. 
     
     
         22 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein during grinding the total infeed amount is at least about 0.1 mm. 
     
     
         23 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the workpiece comprises an average surface roughness (Ra) after conducting n grinding cycles of not greater than about 50 microinches. 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the workpiece comprises an average surface roughness (Ra) variance for at least three continuous grinding operations is not greater than about 35%. 
     
     
         26 - 27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . An abrasive tool comprising:
 a bonded abrasive body having abrasive grains contained within a bond material comprising a metal, wherein the body comprises a ratio of V AG /V BM  of at least about 1.3, wherein V AG  is a volume percent of abrasive grains within a total volume of the body and V BM  is a volume percent of bond material within the total volume of the body; and wherein during a grinding operation of a metal workpiece the bonded abrasive body has a G-ratio of at least about 1200 at a material removal rate of at least about 1.0 in 3 /min/in, wherein the G-ratio is defined as a volume of material remove from the workpiece divided by a volume of material lost from the bonded abrasive body through wear.   
     
     
         29 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the G-ratio is at least about 1300. 
     
     
         30 - 33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the G-ratio is within a range between about 1200 and about 2500. 
     
     
         35 - 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the grinding operation is conducted at a material removal rate (MRR′) of at least about 5.0 in 3 /min/in. 
     
     
         38 - 39 . (canceled) 
     
     
         40 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the bonded abrasive body is rotated at a speed of at least about 5,000 sfpm. 
     
     
         41 . (canceled) 
     
     
         42 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the bonded abrasive body has a power variance [(Po−Pn)/Po]×100% of not greater than about 40%, wherein Po represents a grinding power to grind a workpiece with the bonded abrasive body at an initial grinding cycle and Pn represents a grinding power to grind the workpiece for an n th  grinding cycle, wherein n≧4. 
     
     
         43 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the bonded abrasive body comprises at least about 5 vol % porosity, wherein a majority of the porosity is interconnected porosity defining a network of interconnected pores extending through the volume of the body. 
     
     
         44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the workpiece comprises steel. 
     
     
         46 . An abrasive tool comprising:
 a bonded abrasive body having abrasive grains contained within a bond material comprising a metal; and   wherein during a grinding operation of a workpiece having an average Vickers hardness of at least about 5 GPa, the bonded abrasive body has an increase in an initial grinding power of not greater than 40% as defined by an equation [(Pn−Po)/Po]×100%, wherein Po represents an initial grinding power to grind the workpiece with the bonded abrasive body at an initial grinding cycle and Pn represents a grinding power to grind the workpiece with the bonded abrasive body at an n th  grinding cycle, wherein n≧16.   
     
     
         47 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the body comprises a ratio of V AG /V BM  of at least about 1.3, wherein V AG  is a volume percent of abrasive grains within a total volume of the body and V BM  is a volume percent of bond material within the total volume of the body. 
     
     
         48 . The abrasive article of  claim 28 , wherein the bonded abrasive body has an increase in the initial grinding power of not greater than 35%. 
     
     
         49 - 52 . (canceled) 
     
     
         53 . The abrasive article of  claim 46 , wherein the bonded abrasive body has an increase in the initial grinding power within a range between about 0.1% and about 40%. 
     
     
         54 - 55 . (canceled) 
     
     
         56 . The abrasive article of  claim 46 , wherein the workpiece comprises an average Vickers hardness of at least about 10 GPa. 
     
     
         57 - 71 . (canceled) 
     
     
         72 . The abrasive article of  claim 46 , wherein the workpiece is an end mill. 
     
     
         73 - 178 . (canceled)