The document discusses abrasives, including their definition, types (natural vs synthetic), materials used, and applications. It describes various abrasive materials like aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, garnet and their uses. Abrasives are used for grinding, polishing, cutting and other applications in industries like woodworking, metal fabrication, automotive, aerospace and marine trades manufacturing. Common natural abrasives include sandstone and emery, while synthetic examples are bonded abrasives and coated abrasives.

1. FABRIKAM
MACHINE TOOLS & MACHINING
D e p a r t m e n t o f M e c h a n i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g
UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE

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ABRASIVE PRODUCTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Abrasive
• Types of Abrasive
• Natural & Synthetic Abrasives
• Abrasive Materials
• Industrial Application
• Uses

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ABRASIVE
Definition
• An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to
shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to
part of the workpiece being worn away by friction.

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ABRASIVE
The abrasive process can also involve
roughening as in satin, matte or beaded
finishes.
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TYPES OF ABRASIVE
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There are Two types of Abrasive Material
• Natural
• Synthetic

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NATURAL & SYNTHETIC ABRASIVE
N a t u r a l A b r a s i v e
• Calcite
• Emery
• Diamond Dust
• Sand
• Garnet
• Sandstone
S y n t h e t i c A b r a s i v e
• Bonded Abrasives
• Rubber, Clay, Resins, Tungsten Carbide, Garnet
Coated Abrasives
• Paper, Clothes, Polyester, metals, Sandpaper, matchbox,
diamond plates,
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• Rotten Stone
• Staurolite
• Ceramic
• Glass Powder
• Slage

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COMPARISON B/W NATURAL & SYNTHETIC ABRASIVE
N a t u r a l A b r a s i v e
• Many minerals and rocks of diverse composition but with one
thing in common “Hardness”
• are used in the natural state, except for processing and
bonding.
• are often sold as dressed stones, usually in the form of a
rectangular block.
• Natural diamonds are used primarily in diamond-tipped drill
bits and saw blades for cutting or shaping rock, concrete,
grinding wheels, glass, quartz, gems, and high-speed tool
steels.
• Other naturally occurring abrasive materials (including garnet,
emery, silica sand, and quartz) are used in finishing wood,
leather, rubber, plastics, glass, and softer metals
S y n t h e t i c A b r a s i v e
• Many synthetic abrasives are productively equivalent to an
organic mineral.
• It differs only in the fact that synthetic minerals are
manufactured instead of mined.
• The largest application of synthetic diamonds has been in
wheels for grinding carbides and ceramics.
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ABRASIVE
MATERIAL
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• Aluminum Oxide
• Glass Beads
• Silicon Carbide
• White Aluminum
Oxide
• Cut Wire
• Steel Shot & Steel
Grit
• Agricultural Media
• Sodium Bicarbonate
• Plastic Blast Media
• Ceramic Shot &
Ceramic Grit
• Garnet
• Aluminum Shot
• Specialty Materials
• Tumbling Media
• Cast Stainless Steel
Shot & Stainless
Steel Grit
• Abrasive Recycling

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ALUMINIUM OXIDE
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Aluminum oxide is a general purpose loose grain
abrasive used in a variety of blasting, polishing,
lapping, or other finishing applications.
Lower grade Aluminum Oxide tends to have a higher
iron content when compared to higher grade material.
USES
Anchor Pattern creation for pre-coating or pre-
bonding, Rust, scale or coating removal, Tough paint
or other contaminant removal, Grinding or lapping

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GLASS BEADS
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Glass beads are a good all around cleaning media,
used quite frequently in general maintenance and
blast cleaning processes.
USES:
Cosmetic Finishing, Blast Cleaning for Brittle
Contaminants, Mold Cleaning, Automotive
Rebuilding, Carbon or Heat Treat Scale Removal,
Blast Processes in which Metal Removal from the
Work Piece is of concern

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SILICON CARBIDE
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Silicon Carbide, SiC, is a very sharp, very hard
abrasive. It is typically black in color. It is harder
than aluminum oxide and is close to the hardness of
diamond on the Mohs scale. These characteristics
make it an extremely aggressive media.
USES
Blasting Prior to Brazing, Cleaning or Etching Very
Hard Sub Surfaces, Wire sawing, Grinding or
Lapping, Blast Processes (Metal Removal from the
Work Piece is of concern)

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CUT WIRE
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cut wire abrasive is made by taking wire of a specific
diameter and cutting it into lengths, most always, the
same dimension as the diameter.
USES
stainless Cut Wire and Carbon Cut Wire, in
conditioned form, are commonly used in shot
peening operations
wheel blasting applications

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STEEL SHOT &
STEEL GRIT
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Two of the most common types are steel shot and
steel grit.
They are very different products. Steel shot is
spherical in shape. Steel grit is random and
angular. Steel shot will provide a smoother surface
than steel grit. Steel grit, given its’ shape, will etch
or erode the surface.
USES
Steel shot and grit are popular choices in wheel blast
equipment and appropriately outfitted blast rooms
due to their durability or low attrition rate.

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AGRICULTURAL
MEDIA
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Abrasive Products offers a variety of agricultural
media. The two most common are corn cob and
walnut shells.
Both corn cob and walnut shell are derived from
grinding cob or walnut shell into a loose grain form.
Both products are very light weight by bulk density.
USES
• Drying wet parts in vibratory, tumbling or mass
finishing processes
• Blasting to remove very light contaminants
• Polishing in mass finishing processes
• As an absorbent for other processes

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PLASTIC BLAST
MEDIA
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Plastic blast media is a versatile blast media used in a
number of very different applications. Typically
plastic blast media is utilized for removing coatings
or contaminants where etching the workpiece
substrate is of concern
USES
Paint or Coating stripping, particularly in aerospace
Contaminant removal, Cleaning delicate parts, DE
flashing, Mold Cleaning

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CERAMIC SHOT &
CERAMIC GRIT
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Ceramic shot and grit are excellent abrasive blast
medias for blasting applications which require a
clean finish for air blast, wheel blast or wet blasting.
These products are often referred to as zirconia beads
or zircon beads or zirconia or zircon grit due to their
high percentage of zirconia.
USES
Mold cleaning, Micro Surface profiling of workpiece
, Contaminant removal, Shot peening, Blasting of
titanium or stainless steel

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SPECIALTY
MATERIALS
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Abrasive Products also offers a variety of specialty
abrasives, powders, and ceramic materials. These
products can be used in lapping processes,
investment casting, as well as specialized air blasting
applications.
USES
Boron Carbide, Calcined Alumina, Zirconia, Mullite,
Tabular Alumina, Cerium Oxide, Diamond Powders

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TUMBLING MEDIA
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These products perform similarly to steel shot and
steel grit, however, are made of stainless steel. They
contain a higher concentration of nickel and
chromium. They are good medias to consider when
ferrous contamination of the work piece cannot be
tolerated.
USES
Both stainless steel grit and stainless steel shot come
in a variety of hardness and sizes. The bulk density
of either are very high and must be taken into
consideration in relation to their use in equipment.

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INDUSTRIALAPPLICATIONS OF ABRASIVES
Woodworking and fabrication: furniture, kitchen cabinets and custom casework
Metal fabrication: light sheet metal fabrications, metal components and metal casework
Fiberglass, plastics and composites: manufactured products for major manufacturers or
automotive, aircraft and other industries
Automotive manufacturers
Aircraft and other aerospace manufacturers
Marine trades manufacturing

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USES OF ABRASIVE
Grinding
Polishing
Buffing
Honing
Cutting
Drilling
 Sharpening
 Lapping
Sanding