Influence of Dressing via EDM on Tool Life during Tool Grinding

Due to its higher productivity and flexibility compared to conventional dressing, as well as the possibility to dress complex grinding wheel profiles, electrical discharge machining (EDM) dressing of metal-bonded grinding wheels is increasingly used. One advantage of EDM dressing compared to conventional dressing methods is that the EDM process only resets the grinding wheel bond, but hardly damages the abrasive grains. Thus, higher grain protrusions are achievable.

The parameters of the EDM dressing process have not yet been optimized with respect to the productivity of the EDM process, the productivity of the tool grinding process, the surface quality of the ground tools, and the grinding tool life. The influence of EDM dressing on tool grinding and on product quality as well as on coating adhesion has not been sufficiently researched. Therefore, the aim of this project is to analyze the influence of the EDM dressing process on the productivity and product quality of the tool grinding process as well as on the grinding tool life in the first fundamental EDM dressing investigations. At the same time, special attention is paid to the productivity of the EDM process. In order to investigate the influence of the EDM dressing process on the coating adhesion, supporting investigations will be carried out by GFE - Gesellschaft für Fertigungstechnik und Entwicklung Schmalkalden e.V.