This article discusses the principles of grinding process. It illustrates a typical wheel-work characteristic chart relating surface finish, wheel wear rate, metal removal rate, and power to the normal force. The article also reviews the effect of variations in work material, wheel specification, wheel speed, coolant, and grinding wheel-work conformity on the slopes of the wheel-work characteristic chart.

This article presents the mechanisms of polymer wear and quantifies wear in terms of wear rate (rate of removal of the material). Interfacial and bulk wear are discussed as well as a discussion on the wear study of "elastomers," "thermosets," "glassy thermoplastics," and "semicrystalline thermoplastics." The article also discusses the effects of environment and lubricant on the wear failures of polymers. It presents a case study on considering nylon as a tribological material and failure examples, explaining wear resistance of polyurethane elastomeric coatings and failure of an acetal gear wheel.

Superabrasives collectively refer to the diamond and cubic boron nitride (CBN) abrasives used in grinding applications. This article discusses the classification of superabrasive wheels according to a variety of sizes and shapes, construction, concentration, and bond systems. It provides information on the applications of the superabrasive wheels depending on the factors of the grinding system. These factors include machine tool variables, work material, wheel selection, and operational factors. The article describes the methods available for superabrasive wheel truing in production grinding operations, namely, stationary tool, powered, and form truings. It reviews the truing methods, such as truing with abrasive wheels and hard ceramics, for batch production. The article explains practical methods available for dressing CBN wheels, namely, abrasive stick, abrasive-jet, slurry, and high-pressure waterjet dressing. It concludes with information on the conditioning process of the CBN wheel.

The article provides a discussion on the parameters influencing abrasive wear and the elements and standards of abrasion wear tests. It emphasizes the general test procedures, advantages, and limitations of various types of abrasive wear testing. Wear testing for scratch wear, dry abrasion against fixed particles, dry abrasion against loose particles, wet abrasion against fixed or loose particles, gouging-abrasion, small particle erosion, impact abrasion, slurry abrasion, and microabrasion, are also discussed.

Electrochemical discharge grinding (ECDG) is a combination of electrochemical grinding (ECG) and electrical discharge grinding (EDG), with some modification of each. This article commences with a schematic illustration of a setup for ECDG using a solid bonded graphite wheel. It describes the process characteristics of ECDG in terms of current density, wheel speed, wear ratio, accuracy and finish, wheel maintenance, and profile grinding. The article concludes with a comparison of ECDG with EDG and ECG.

Electrical discharge grinding (EDG) is much like electrical discharge machining except that the electrode (tool) is a rotating graphite wheel. This article commences with a schematic illustration of a setup for EDG wheels and discusses the control operation of the EDG setup. It tabulates typical applications and conditions for the EDG of stainless steels using 300 mm diameter wheels. The article describes the process characteristics of the EDG in terms of applications, surface finish, corner radius, and wheel wear. It concludes with a graphical illustration of the effect of heat in electrical discharge grinding on the surface hardness of various work metals.

This article describes the various characteristics of electrochemical grinding (ECG). It discusses grinding methods that can be performed with ECG components, namely, the electrolyte delivery and circulating system, the electrolyte, the DC power supply, grinding wheel, and the workpiece. Grinding, surface grinding, internal grinding, form grinding, and cylindrical grinding are discussed. The article also lists the advantages, disadvantages, and applications of ECG.

This article provides a discussion on a working principle, the operations, characteristics, capabilities, and applications of electrochemical grinding (ECG). The basic elements of the ECG machine tool are also presented.

Diamond and cubic boron nitride (CBN) are the two hardest materials known. They have found numerous applications in industry, both as ultrahard abrasives and as cutting tools. This article reviews the high-pressure synthesis and fabrication techniques of these materials. It discusses their wear resistance, tool geometries, and machining parameters. The article also explains their application as cutting tools in the field of machining.

This article focuses on the machining of reactive metals which refer collectively to the elements titanium, hafnium, and zirconium. It provides guidelines for machining titanium and titanium alloys and describes machining operations, such as turning, milling, drilling, tapping, reaming, grinding, and sawing, performed on titanium and its alloys. The article also provides information on electrochemical machining (ECM), chemical milling (CHM), and laser beam machining (LBM) for titanium and titanium alloys. Guidelines for machining zirconium alloys and hafnium are also provided. The article provides a short description of turning, milling, and drilling operations performed on zirconium alloys and hafnium. It also discusses health and safety considerations related to zirconium and hafnium.

Mechanical cleaning systems are used to remove contaminants of work surface by propelling abrasive materials through any of these three principal methods: airless centrifugal blast blade- or vane-type wheels; compressed air, direct-pressure dry blast nozzle systems; or compressed-air, indirect-suction (induction) wet or dry blast nozzle systems. This article focuses on the abrasive media, equipment, applications, and limitations of dry and wet blast cleaning. It discusses the health and safety precautions to be taken during mechanical cleaning.

Synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride are among a class of superhard materials from the boron-carbon-nitrogen-silicon family of elements. This article focuses on the two materials, the forms in which they are produced, and their respective properties. Synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride compounds are available in the form of grit and sintered polycrystalline blanks of various size, shape, and composition. The article explains how superabrasive grains made from these materials can be used in lapping, polishing, and grinding applications, and how diamond and boron nitride blanks can be mounted to suitable substrates to form ultrahard cutting edges and tools.

Abrasive finishing is a method where a large number of multipoint or random cutting edges are coupled with abrasive grains as a bond or matrix material for effective removal of material at smaller chip sizes. This article provides a broad overview of the various categories of abrasive products and materials, abrasive finishing processes, and the mechanisms of delivering the abrasives to the grinding or machining zone. Abrasive finishing processes, such as grinding, honing, superfinishing, microgrinding, polishing, buffing, and lapping, are discussed. The article presents a brief discussion on abrasive jet machining and ultrasonic machining. It concludes with a discussion on the four categories of factors that affect the abrasive finishing or machining: machine tool, work material, wheel selection, and operational.

This article discusses the classification of wear based on the presence or absence of effective lubricants, namely, lubricated and nonlubricated wear. Variations in ambient temperature, atmosphere, load, and sliding speed, as well as variations in material bulk composition, microstructure, surface treatment, and surface finish of steel are also considered. The article discusses the types, wear testing, wear evaluation, and hardness evaluation of abrasive wear. It describes the selection criteria of steels for wear resistance. The article also describes the importance of hardness and microstructure as factors in resistance to wear. It provides a discussion on the resistance of various materials to wear in specific applications. The wear resistance of austenitic manganese steels is also discussed. The article discusses the applications of phosphate coatings, wear-resistant coatings, and ion implantation. It concludes with information on interaction of wear and corrosion.