Mechanics of the Abrasive Cutoff Operation

The abrasive cutoff operation in which a high-speed disk is fed radially into a steel member is analyzed. The feed rate and the wheel speed are the chief variables of importance. Cutting forces and wheel wear rate are analyzed in terms of chip size, grain spacing, and the length of work in the direction of cut. While the highest wheel speed possible should be used, there is an optimum feed rate. When the feed rate is low, an excessive wheel temperature is encountered, and wheel wear rate will be high. At a high feed rate, individual chips are too large for the space available, and wheel wear will also be high. Best performance from the point of view of wheel wear rate is obtained using a hard, dense wheel of large grain size (20 or coarser) operating at the highest wheel speed possible and with an intermediate feed rate.