Nonwoven Abrasive Wheel with Polyurethane Foam Core
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for polishing metal fabrication tools, such as vitrified or metal-bonded abrasive wheels, are costly, difficult to use, and often damage the tools due to their rigidity, while soft abrasive materials are inefficient for hard surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A nonwoven abrasive wheel with a specific Flexural Modulus range and super abrasive particles, such as diamond, provides a mirror finish on metal fabrication tools without damaging the cutting edges, allowing for various profiles and reduced stock removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If vitrified or metal-bonded abrasive wheels are used for polishing metal fabrication tools, then a mirror finish can be achieved, but the rigidity of these wheels causes damage to cutting edges and requires frequent dressing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the key parameter of wheel compliance by using a polyurethane foam core instead of rigid vitrified or metal-bonded materials. This fundamental material parameter change allows the wheel to be sufficiently compliant to avoid damaging cutting edges while still achieving mirror finish on hard carbide surfaces through the combination of foam compliance and superabrasive particles
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite abrasive wheel structure combining polyurethane foam material with diamond or cubic boron nitride superabrasive particles. This composite structure integrates the compliance and shock absorption of polyurethane foam with the cutting ability of superabrasives, resolving the contradiction between achieving mirror finish and avoiding tool damage
2Object-affected harmful factors
If soft compliant wheel materials such as leather or compressed cotton are used, then compliance is improved to prevent tool damage, but polishing efficiency on hard surfaces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines soft polyurethane foam material with hard diamond or cubic boron nitride superabrasive particles to create a composite wheel that exhibits both compliance for shock absorption and superabrasive capability for efficient polishing of hard carbide surfaces, thereby achieving both high compliance and high productivity simultaneously
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a nonwoven abrasive wheel with high compliance is used, then tool damage is reduced, but the ability to produce mirror finish deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite structure where polyurethane foam provides compliance and shock absorption while embedded diamond or cubic boron nitride superabrasive particles provide the hardness and cutting ability necessary to produce mirror finish on hard surfaces, achieving both high compliance and high manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material composition parameter by incorporating superabrasive particles into the polyurethane foam matrix, fundamentally altering the wheel's abrasive capability while maintaining the compliance benefits of the foam material
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The nonwoven abrasive wheel achieves a mirror finish on metal fabrication tools with less stock removal and reduced tool damage, offering a cost-effective and versatile solution for polishing various tool profiles without the need for frequent dressing.
Implementation Method 1
a polyurethane binder adhering the plurality of super abrasive particles to the nonwoven fibers and adhering the layers of the nonwoven fiber web to each other
Implementation Method 2
Nonwoven abrasive wheels can conform to various profiles as they polish a workpiece surface
Data Source
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AI summary
A nonwoven abrasive wheel comprising one or more layers of a nonwoven fiber web, a plurality of super abrasive particles having a Vickers hardness greater than 40 GPa, a polyurethane binder adhering the plurality of super abrasive particles to the nonwoven fibers and adhering the layers of the nonwoven fiber web to each other, and wherein the nonwoven abrasive wheel comprises a Flexural Modulus from 4.0 to 128.0 lb/inch of thickness per inch of displacement.