A study on the development of in-process dressing lapping wheel and its evaluation of machining characteristics

Ceramics, carbide, and ferrite are widely used due to their significant mechanical properties such as light weight, chemical stability, super wear resistance, and electronics. Despite these characteristics, this material is not widely used for its difficulty in machining material. Therefore, the method of using a metal bonded wheel was proposed. However, a metal bonded wheel is difficult to dress. Recently, a new technology is being developed for In-Process Electrolytic Dressing to solve this problem. This technology provides dressing for metal-bonded wheels during the lapping process for in-process lapping of protruding abrasive from super-abrasive wheels. This method requires a wheel for electrolytic dressing, a power supply, and an electrolyte. A cast iron bonded diamond (CIB-D) wheel is dressed by electrolytic dressing and its electrolytic characteristics are evaluated. This study produced an ultra-precision lapping machine for in-process electrolytic dressing using super-abrasive CIB-D applied for lapping ceramics, sintered carbide, and optical glass. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2004.