Indirect grinding-based approach for brittleness comparison of various abrasives

Abstract

Abrasives are materials used for purposes such as material removal, shaping, and surface finishing. One of the most critical factors influencing the performance of abrasives is their brittleness. The brittleness of abrasives directly affects energy efficiency and product quality in the applications in which they are utilized. This study investigates the grinding characteristics of various abrasives (garnet, white fused alumina, brown fused alumina, silicon carbide, glass bead, emery powder, olivine, and steel shot) to compare their brittleness. A laboratory-scale rod mill is used to grind the abrasives under identical conditions. A vibrating sieve machine is employed to classify the disintegrated abrasive particles. The disintegration ratio values of the abrasives are determined. A scanning electron microscope is used to analyze the morphological changes of abrasive particles. Based on the grinding results, glass bead is determined to have the lowest brittleness, followed by steel shot, silicon carbide, white fused alumina, garnet, brown fused alumina, emery powder, and olivine. It is concluded that chemical composition, hardness, density, and particle shape are significant factors influencing the brittleness of abrasives. No direct one-to-one relationship is observed between any single abrasive property and brittleness. Instead, it is determined that the combined effect of these properties plays a decisive role in defining the brittleness behavior of abrasives.