Why Superabrasives?

When the material you are trying to process is either too hard or too delicate for conventional abrasives, custom superabrasive grinding tools might be the best solution.

What are Superabrasives?

The term “superabrasives” refers to a class of tools used in precision grinding for many industries. Superabrasive grinding products contain natural diamond, manmade diamond, and/or CBN — some of the hardest materials that can be made. Superabrasives are also sometimes called industrial diamonds: an industrial diamond is a non-gem quality small diamond that is for abrasives, cutting, and drilling tools. Other types of superabrasives include:

  • Cubic boron nitride (CBN): Usually called CBN, this is the second hardest cutting tool material after a diamond.

  • Polycrystalline: This is an abrasive material that has multiple collections of crystal grain structures with individual orientations.

  • CVD Diamond: These are synthetic diamonds made by a process known as chemical vapor deposition. CVD diamonds grow from a hydrocarbon gas mixture. They are extremely hard and have a high thermal conductivity that is five times that of copper. They also have broadband optical transparency, are chemically inert, and only reach graphitization at very high temperatures.

  • Nano-diamonds: These tiny diamonds are the product of a controlled explosion. They are sometimes called detonation nano-diamonds (DND) or an ultra-dispersed diamonds after how they are formed.

These abrasive materials have been labeled as superabrasive due to their extraordinary hardness, unparalleled performance, and longevity. Continental Diamond Tool uses these superabrasive materials to make custom grinding wheels and products, including plated, vitrified, resin bond, metal bond, hybrid bonds, and rotary dressers, for many complex applications.

Superabrasives vs. Conventional Abrasives

Superabrasives, whether natural or manmade, have a hardness range that distinguishes them as some of the most durable materials on Earth. Conventional abrasives are made with much softer abrasive materials that are less expensive but break down faster. The best abrasive product for your application depends on the material you are grinding and what properties you need to achieve your desired results.

Industries that Use Superabrasives

A great number of industries use superabrasive grinding wheels, and the custom-coated abrasives subsection of the abrasives industry continues to grow. Industries that regularly invest in superabrasive grinding wheels are:

  • Aerospace

  • Automotive

  • Medical

  • Electronics

  • Composites

  • Oil Industry

Advantages of Superabrasives

The advantages of superabrasive grinding wheels are more than extraordinary hardness, unparalleled performance, and longevity. These three features of superabrasives are the core of many advantages manufacturers gain by an aggregation of services that normal abrasives simply cannot deliver.

Benefits include:

  • Less expensive tooling and fixturing costs

  • More wheels on the spindle, smaller wheels, multiple operations

  • Less floor space needed for manufacturing

  • Virtual elimination of wheel wear

  • Automated CNC machines, less labor intensive operations requiring less training

  • Consistent surface speed from part to part

  • Better overall throughput with fewer machines needed

  • Improved material removal rates, lower per part abrasive costs, and higher speeds

With superabrasives, industries have been able to increase production with automated CNC equipment, compensating for a lack of available, skilled labor. With custom superabrasives that are optimized for their process, machine capabilities, and mechanization, there is less reliance on operator technique. A properly defined process, combined with automatic loaders, make for equipment that can even run itself in some cases with lights out manufacturing.

Industry Outlook

Future growth of the abrasives industries will primarily be in superabrasives. Currently, research and development of superabrasives are taking place in the following areas:

  • Custom designed “hard to grind” materials in an increasing number of industries

  • Creep or deep feed grinding

  • High-speed, high-performance grinding of hardened steel

  • Form grinding, sometimes with electroplating, in high precision, high-removal, and high-surface quality applications

  • CNC-control of line grinding machines

Continental Diamond Tool stays on the forefront of new abrasive technology developments in superabrasives with our state-of-the-art grinding lab focused on research and development of new hybrid bonds that take the efficiencies of superabrasives even further.

How to select the right superabrasive

CDT has a strong group of engineers, product managers, and technical sales people who can come out to your facility to review your equipment and processes, and the parts you’re looking to grind. Or, as Troy Giacherio, Product Manager for Rotary Dressers, suggests, “you can come into our facility and we’d be more than happy to have the conversation, review the whole development process, and then make our recommendations based on what we’ve seen and communicated.” Contact us for a free quote.

Learn more about superabrasive grinding solutions in this video:

 
 
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