The Performance of Seeded Gel Abrasives in the Laboratory and at Customer Test Sites Available to Purchase

Seeded Gel (SG) is a ceramic aluminium oxide manufactured by a sintering process. Each abrasive grit consists of sub‐micron size particles which under grinding force are separated from the grit. This keeps SG sharper than conventional abrasives which can dull as flats are worn on the working points. This wearing of small particles also reduces wheel wear rates and increases the G Ratio: volume of metal removed/wheel wear volume. Because sub‐micron particles are worn away, SG holds form and finish better than conventional abrasives especially at higher metal removal rates and forces. Therefore less dressing is needed, wheel life is increased and higher removal rates increase productivity. Moreover, unlike CBN which may require new truing and/or dressing methods, SG products are easily trued with single‐ or multi‐point diamonds or rotary diamond cutters nor do they require stiffer‐than‐usual machines or special equipment.