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Abrasive

Tips to Choose Right Abrasive for your Business

Abrasives are highly effective tools that are used for deburring, grinding, and finishing. The proper selection of abrasives is very important to obtain a better finish. 

It is very important for a buyer to choose the right abrasive as it can minimize the cost and maximize the output. If you are wondering which abrasive is right for your welding or metal fabrication, go through the points mentioned below. 

The selection of abrasives mainly depends on two major factors, constants, and variables. 

Constant Factors: 

  • Work material that needs to be grounded
  • Rate of stock removal
  • Area of contact between workpiece and wheel
  • Accuracy of job

Variable Factors: 

  • Work Speed
  • Wheel speed
  • Condition of the machine

Let’s discuss these factors in detail:

Work Material

The choice of an abrasive depends on the type of material you will be grounding. The most commonly used abrasives are made up of silicon carbide(SiC) or aluminium oxide(Al203). Silicon carbide is best suited for brittle and hard materials like tungsten carbides, hard steels, stones, and other ceramic substances. 

Aluminium oxide is a better option if the workpiece is built with tough materials having high tensile strength such as mild steel, alloy steel, tough bronze, annealed malleable iron, etc. 

So, get an abrasive according to the material of your workpiece. 

Amount of Stock Removal

Fast removal of metal is necessary to complete the job quickly. It totally depends on grain size, grade, and structure of abrasives. 

Grain Size: 

Grain size is determined by the mesh number that is retained when passed through a vibrating sieve. Generally, for softer materials, coarse grain size is used; and for harder materials, fine grain is recommended. 

Grades: 

The harder materials have better resistance to the wheel during the grinding. These materials will go hard on the wheel, and weaken it, and offer poor grinding. Therefore, for metals will high strength, it is better to use abrasives whose particles break easily, letting the new sharper faces do the job for you.

For softer materials, a high-grade bond is recommended.

Structure

Structure is the void between the abrasive and the workpiece. In the case of harder materials, the dense structure is required.

However, for softer materials, the open structure is recommended as the rate of metal removal is high and the chip size is also big.

Area of Contact

If the area of contact is large, the total grinding pressure gets distributed over a large area. Automatically, the pressure per unit gets less. So, it is required to use a softer wheel where the arc of contact is more.  For external grinding, a harder wheel is a better option. As per the type of area, choose the best suitable option.

Condition of Grinding Machine

The condition of abrasives must be good. There should be no cuts or scratches on it. For a long-lasting grinding machine, buy the abrasives according to your machine. If the machine is heavy and rigid, a softer grade abrasive is required while for light machines, use a harder grade.

Work Speed and Wheel Speed

In grinding, 70% of the complaints occur due to the wrong selection of work speed and wheel speed. If the surface is burnt, the speed of the wheel would be reduced. Wheel speed depends on the type of operation like external grinding, internal grinding or parting off operation. Work speed relies on which type of finish you want. For higher work speed, purchase a harder wheel.

Other factors that need to be considered while selecting the right abrasive are the time it takes to complete the task, revolutions per minute, its cost, ease of use, and more. 

Now, after reading all the factors mentioned above, you might have got an idea for abrasive is perfect for you. So, if you are planning to buy an abrasive, visit moglix.com, an online platform to buy the industrial essentials. Log on to the website and enjoy the best shopping experience with the best brands.

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