Influence of kinematics and abrasive configuration on the grinding process of glass

The micro- and macro-kinematics performed by the abrasives play a key role during the grinding of brittle materials. The present work intends to evaluate the influence of the abrasive configuration and the trajectory of the abrasive tool on the grinding process of glass. For this purpose, two different arrangements of abrasive pins were tested under three different kinematic curves: two epitrochoidal and one hypotrochoid. Grinding tests were carried out on commercial glass tiles, using 1 h of grinding time and water as lubricant. Computational simulations were used to quantify the spatial distribution of abrasive contacts over the sample surface, including the scratching orientation of each abrasive contact. The amount of material removed from the surface due to the grinding was measured by contour profilometry. By assembling the results from both experiments and simulations the average removal rate of the grinding process were determined and mapped for the entire abraded surface. The effect of the abrasive configuration was found to be either minimized or maximized according to the kinematics chosen, and differences of up to 30% were detected. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.