Investigations on Laser Dressing of Grinding Wheels—Part I: Preliminary Study

Investigations on the use of laser as a dressing tool for grinding wheels have been carried out and the results are reported in a two paper sequence. This paper reports the results of preliminary investigations on grinding wheel materials after laser irradiation. Studies were carried out on the surfaces of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), and silicon carbide (SiC) grains, vitrified bond and also on a sample Al₂O₃ grinding wheel after irradiating them with high intensity Nd:YAG laser pulses. The results obtained are discussed with reference to the optical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the materials. This paper also includes the studies on the wheel surface topography obtained after laser dressing the wheel with different dressing feed rates.