Effect of nanosized alumina fillers on manufacturing of UV light-curable-resin bond abrasive tool

As one of the rapid prototyping technologies, ultraviolet-curable resin (UV-resin) curing was recently introduced into the manufacturing of resin bond abrasive tools. This research was conducted to evaluate the influence of nanosized alumina filler on the manufacturing of UV-resin bond diamond grinding wheel, and comparatively study the machining performance of filler-loaded and filler-unloaded tools. The UV-resin and diamond abrasive grains were prepared with nanosized alumina filler in a proportion of 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10 wt%. The cure depth, hardness, and tensile strength of the cured mixture was studied, and the interfacial bond between the diamond grain and cured resin matrix was investigated as well. Two UV-resin bond diamond grinding wheels were fabricated to examine the influence of filler loading on wear performance of the tools. Experimental results based on ceramic workpieces showed that the introduction of alumina filler improved not only the material properties of cured resin matrix but also led to a significant improvement on the abrasive machining performance of grinding wheel.