Influence of Additives on Grinding Performance of Digital Light Processing-Printed Phenol Bond Grinding Wheels

Resin bond grinding wheels are the most common grinding tools in the industry. Until now, all research on the additive manufacturing of resin bond grinding wheels has focused on commercially available acrylate resin. However, using a phenol-based bond to print resin-bond grinding wheels has been challenging for researchers and industries. In this study, a photo-curable phenol resin bond grinding wheel was introduced for the first time, offering advantages such as lower cost, high thermal resistance, and good mechanical properties. To enhance the grinding performance of the printed wheels, various additives, such as copper, glass fiber, and carbon fiber, were incorporated into the composition. Different on-machine and out-of-machine measurements, such as force, tool wear, dimensional accuracy, and optical microscopy measurements, were conducted to investigate the grinding performance of the printed wheels. The results demonstrate that printed grinding wheels have strong potential in grinding applications, which was more prominent for the bond reinforced by glass fibers, providing improved mechanical properties (up to 50%), wear resistance (up to 75%), and higher dimensional accuracy (up to 11%).