Polymer bond abrasive articles and methods of making them

Abstract

Methods of making polymer bond abrasive articles and their precursors using powder bed jetting are disclosed. Polymer bond abrasive articles prepared by the method include abrasive articles having arcuate or tortuous cooling channels, unitary structured abrasive discs, abrasive segments, shaped abrasive particles, and abrasive wheels.

Description

Background technique [0001] By compressing abrasive grains (e.g., diamond, cubic boron nitride, alumina, or SiC), glassy bond precursors (e.g., glass frit, ceramic precursors), optionally porosity-inducing agents (e.g., glass bubbles, a blend of naphthalene, crushed coconut or walnut shells, or acrylic glass, or PMMA) and a temporary organic binder (e.g., an aqueous solution of phenolic resin, polyvinyl alcohol, urea-formaldehyde resin, or dextrin) in a liquid carrier, Abrasive articles (eg, grinding wheels, abrasive segments, and grindstones) can be prepared. The blended mixture is then placed in a hardened steel mold and heated until the glassy bond precursor transforms into a glassy bond matrix. [0002] This method of manufacturing has a number of disadvantages: each abrasive article shape requires a special mold; molds are often expensive and have long lead times; any design changes require the manufacture of new molds; there are limitations on the shapes that can be mol...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0002] This method of manufacturing has a number of disadvantages: each abrasive article shape requires a special mold; molds are often expensive and have long lead times; any design changes require the manufacture of new molds; there are limitations on the shapes that can be molded, with undercuts Or complex shapes of internal structures such as cooling channels are often not possible; molds wear and each mold has a limited number of units that can be manufactured; when molds are filled with abrasive mixtures, separation of components occurs, resulting in inhomogeneity abrasive composition and density variation, which is easy to see

Furthermore, the process is manual and labor intensive

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