Dressing Methods and Technology for Vitrified CBN Grinding Wheels

Vitrified CBN grinding wheels are widely used for high-efficiency precision CNC grinding of key components such as automobile and motorcycle engine parts.

Thanks to excellent grinding performance and superior ground surface quality, vitrified CBN grinding wheels are extensively adopted in high-speed, ultra-high-speed grinding, high-performance machining of difficult-to-cut materials and high-efficiency form grinding. During grinding, abrasive grains on the wheel working surface gradually dull under grinding force, grinding zone temperature and material adhesion. Meanwhile, uneven wear distorts the geometric profile of the wheel surface. In addition, fine chips generated in high-speed grinding easily block the gaps on the working surface. To maintain stable grinding performance of CBN wheels, regular dressing is required throughout the machining process.

CBN wheel dressing consists of two procedures: truing and sharpening. Truing shapes the wheel to the required geometric contour and generates sharp cutting edges. Sharpening removes the bonding material between grains to expose abrasive grains above the bond surface and create adequate chip clearance. Truing and sharpening can be carried out simultaneously or separately according to actual requirements.

Truing methods for vitrified CBN wheels include turning, crushing, grinding and laser truing. Common sharpening methods cover loose abrasive sharpening and fixed abrasive dressing tools.

Factors affecting dressing results include the relative arrangement of wheel and workpiece, sharpness and structure of abrasives on the grinding surface, contact length and grinding depth. The sharpness and surface structure of the wheel depend directly on dressing quality. Key influencing parameters involve diamond grit size of the dressing roller, dressing speed ratio, dressing mode and feed rate. Therefore, adjusting dressing roller parameters can modify wheel surface roughness and overall grinding performance.