



































Article Ludovia (de 22 000 à 30000 caractères espaces compris)


    

 Academic Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology 
Vol.1, Issue 1; March -2023; 

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset; mail: topacademicjournals@gmail.com 
 

 

 

 

24| A c a d e m i c  J o u r n a l  o f  S c i e n c e ,  E n g i n e e r i n g  a n d  T e c h n o l o g y |  

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset 

 

Advancements in Dressing Techniques for Metal-Bonded Diamond Grinding 

Wheels 
 

 

Yaxin Wang, Xiang Li, Yunlei Song, Lifei Liu, Liwei Sun & Shizong Zhang 
Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin, 150080, China 

 

Abstract 

Metal-bonded diamond grinding wheels are widely used for precision and ultra-precision grinding of hard and 

brittle materials due to their high grinding efficiency, low processing cost, and other characteristics. However, 

the poor self-sharpness and easy blockage of metal-bonded diamond grinding wheels can affect the stability 

of the grinding process and the grinding surface quality. Additionally, the shape accuracy of the grinding 

wheel can be destroyed during the grinding process of hard and brittle materials, which can also affect the 

grinding surface accuracy and surface quality. 

To address these issues, a swing arm type electric spark dressing device has been designed to realize high 

dressing precision. This paper presents an electric sparking experiment using the dressing device. The 

experimental results show that higher dressing efficiency and low arc precision can be obtained with large 

electrical parameters, while higher arc precision and lower efficiency could be obtained with small electrical 

parameters. The experiment can guide the selection of different parameter combinations in different dressing 

stages to improve the dressing efficiency and precision. 

In summary, this paper proposes a new dressing technique for metal-bonded diamond grinding wheels, which 

can improve dressing efficiency and precision, and thus contribute to high-efficiency and high-quality 

finishing technology for hard and brittle materials. This technique has the advantages of low cost, easy 

realization, and easy adjustment, making it a promising choice for dressing metal-bonded diamond grinding 

wheels. 

 

KEYWORDS: metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel, dressing technique, electric spark, swing arm, 

dressing precision, grinding surface accuracy 

 

INTRODUCTION  

The metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel has the characteristics of strong grinding ability, low grinding 

force, low grinding temperature, high grinding efficiency, small grinding loss, high holding strength to 

abrasive grains and low processing cost [1]. It is widely used in precision and ultra-precision grinding of hard 

and brittle materials. However, the metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel has poor self-sharpness and is easy 

to block. The exciting force caused by the eccentricity of the grinding wheel is easily generated, which affects 

the stability of the grinding process and the grinding surface quality. The shape of the grinding wheel is 

severely worn during the grinding process of the hard and brittle material, such as the silicon carbide ceramics, 

which seriously affects the precision of the workpiece. Therefore, the high-efficiency and high-quality 

finishing technology of the metal bond diamond grinding wheel becomes the key technology for achieving 

hard and brittle material grinding.[2] 

Electric spark shaping can realize in-situ shaping and sharpening and easy to ensure grinding precision; be 

easy to operate and suitable for any grinding wheel with conductive material as bonding agent; generate low 

grinding force and suitable for the dressing process of grinding wheels with small diameter and very thin 

mailto:topacademicjournals@gmail.com


Yaxin Wang, Xiang Li, Yunlei Song, Lifei Liu, Liwei Sun & Shizong Zhang 
Advancements in Dressing Techniques for Metal-Bonded Diamond Grinding Wheels 

 

25| A c a d e m i c  J o u r n a l  o f  S c i e n c e ,  E n g i n e e r i n g  a n d  T e c h n o l o g y |  

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset 

thickness. The method has the advantages of low cost, easy realization, less process parameters, easy 

adjustment and the like, which is the best choice for dressing of metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel. [3] 

Eun-Sang Lee et al.[4] used the on-line electric spark sharpening technology in precise grinding of the Mn-Zn 

ferrite material, and the obtained results reveal that surface roughness was reduced and the surface was free 

of cracks, the grinding force was also reduced. J. Tamaki and K. Kondoh[5] proposed in-process electro-

discharge dressing (IEDD) to achieve dressing of the grinding wheel and good dressing quality was gained. 

Xie Jinet al.[6] conducted an experimental study on Electro-contact discharge dressing (ECDD). The 

experimental results show that the factors affecting the morphology and protrusion height of the diamond 

abrasives are the discharge pulse current amplitude and pulse width. This dressing method is suitable for 

dressing after passivation of the coarse-grained grinding wheel.  

Brian K. Rhoney et al.[7] proposed the wire electrical discharge machining technique (Fig.1), which uses the 

energy generated by the discharge between the electrode wire and the metal-based diamond wheel to remove 

the metal bond. Hu Dejin, Wang Yan et al.[8] proposed a gas-assisted discharge-assisted dressing technique 

that combines mechanical dressing of diamond pens with spark-discharge dressing in gas. The surface quality 

of the grinding wheel after the method is improved, and the wear of the diamond pen is reduced.   

   
Fig.1 wire electrical discharge machining technique[7] 

 Cai Lanronget al.[9] proposed a mist discharge repairing technology, which reduces the dependence on liquid 

media and conforms to the trend of green manufacturing. This technology can be applied to online trimming. 

Suzhou Electric Machine Tool Research Institute[10] developed a EDM forming machine that can be used to 

dressing diamond wheels with a maximum thickness of 100mm and a diameter range of 100~400mm. The 

finished diamond wheel has high forming precision and high durability.   

In this paper, an in-position electric spark dressing device was designed for the arc-shaped metal-bonded 

diamond grinding wheel used in large-scale SiC ceramic aspherical grinding. The relevant process 

experiments are completed, which provides certain technical guidance for the in-position dressing of the 

metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel.  

1. Structure Design of the Dressing Device   

The forming arc of the grinding wheel is the working part. The arc profile wear is serious in grinding process 

of hard and brittle materials such as silicon carbide ceramics, which affects the performance of the grinding 

wheel. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the arc of the arc profile after the dressing process. As the radius of 

the arc of the diamond grinding wheel is small, the trajectory formed by dressing electrode is an arc with the 

same radius of the grinding wheel arc, so as to achieve the purpose of dressing the grinding wheel arc. In the 

dressing process, the loss of the dressing electrode can be compensated to improve the accuracy of the arc 

contour. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the realization of the swing mode and the compensation of the 

dressing electrode loss in designing process. Fig.2 shows a schematic diagram of EDM device. The device is 

mainly composed of a stepping motor, a swinging rod, a V-shaped block and an electrode.  

Electrode 

Diamond  
pen 

Feeding  
motion 

Feeding  
motion Metal-bonded  

grinding wheel 



Yaxin Wang, Xiang Li, Yunlei Song, Lifei Liu, Liwei Sun & Shizong Zhang 
Advancements in Dressing Techniques for Metal-Bonded Diamond Grinding Wheels 

 

26| A c a d e m i c  J o u r n a l  o f  S c i e n c e ,  E n g i n e e r i n g  a n d  T e c h n o l o g y |  

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset 

 
Figure. 2 Structure of the electric spark dressing device  

During the dressing process, both the electrode and the grinding wheel are consumed, and the discharge gap 

needs to be compensated at this time. The electrode consumption is extremely small during the trimming 

process, so the electrode tip position can be fixed to the standard position before each dressing process. 

Therefore, it is necessary to set a positioning reference on the dresser, such as the V-shaped block shown in 

Fig.3. When positioning, a positioning shaft with a diameter of 8 mm is mounted on the V-shaped block, and 

the height of the shaping electrode is adjusted so that the top end of the shaping electrode is in contact with 

the positioning shaft. The grinding wheel compensation behavior is achieved by the downward feed motion 

of the grinding wheel. The point in time and distance of the compensation motion can be determined by 

observing the current value on the dressing power supply.  

 
Figure. 3 Diagram of Electrode positioning    

The electric spark shaping device fully utilizes the feeding function of the grinding head of the grinding 

machine which simplifies the structure, and improves the dressing precision. Therefore, it is used as the final 

shaping solution. Fig.4 shows the physical picture of the device.  

 
Figure. 4 Physical picture of the electric spark dressing device   

Stepper  
motor 

Swing rod 

Trimming electrode 

Insulating sleeve 

Grinding  
wheel 

V Block 

Swing rod 

V Block 

Trimming  
electrode 

Positioning axis 

Press plate 



Yaxin Wang, Xiang Li, Yunlei Song, Lifei Liu, Liwei Sun & Shizong Zhang 
Advancements in Dressing Techniques for Metal-Bonded Diamond Grinding Wheels 

 

27| A c a d e m i c  J o u r n a l  o f  S c i e n c e ,  E n g i n e e r i n g  a n d  T e c h n o l o g y |  

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset 

2. Experiments and Results  

2.1 Establishment of experimental system  

In order to study the dressing precision, the in-position dressing experiments of metal-bonded diamond 

grinding wheel were designed. The electric spark dressing system includes a DC pulse power supply, the 

electric spark dressing device, grinding wheel and dressing coolant.  

Figure 4-1 shows the physical picture of the EDM experiment system. The grinding wheel is mounted on the 

spindle, while the shaping device is mounted on the table of the grinding machine. The DC pulse power supply 

provides pulse current for spark dressing. Positive polarity dressing is adopted, the positive electrode of the 

DC pulse power supply is connected to the grinding wheel, and the negative electrode is connected to the 

electrode. The coolant is added to the gap by a wet brush and a surface of the grinding wheel.  

2.2 Experimental condition  

In the process of EDM, the efficiency and the shape accuracy are quite different with different electrical 

parameters. In order to study the influence of different electrical parameter combinations on the dressing 

accuracy, two group of experimental parameters considering voltage, duty cycle and pulse period were set to 

compare the obtained circularity of the grinding wheel. The specific parameters are shown in Table 4-2.  

Table 1 List of Experimental parameters  

Test 

number  

Voltage(V)  Duty 

cycle  

Pulse 

period(μs)  

Dressing 

rate(rpm)  

1  90  50%  60  3  

2  60  50%  40  3  

The roundness of the dressed grinding wheel cannot be directly measured. Therefore, the cutting grinding 

experiment is performed using the dressed grinding wheel, and the circular arc of the grinding wheel is 

indirectly reflected by detecting the circular arc groove. The arc was measured using a Talysurf PGI plus 

profiler.  

2.3 Experimental Results  

The dressed arc of grinding wheel is obtained by the profilometer, Fig.5 shows the results of the circular arc 

obtained by the Test number 1. From the test results, it can be seen that the overall shape of the arc is not ideal, 

and there is a big gap with the ideal arc. The bottom of the circular arc has obvious defects, comparing with 

the ideal circular arc. The bottom of the circular arc has obvious convexity, which is reveal that there exit a 

pit on the surface of the grinding wheel. The left and right parts of the arc groove have significant fluctuations. 

It can be seen that the largest arc error is 6 μm at the bottom.  



Yaxin Wang, Xiang Li, Yunlei Song, Lifei Liu, Liwei Sun & Shizong Zhang 
Advancements in Dressing Techniques for Metal-Bonded Diamond Grinding Wheels 

 

28| A c a d e m i c  J o u r n a l  o f  S c i e n c e ,  E n g i n e e r i n g  a n d  T e c h n o l o g y |  

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset 

 
Figure. 5  Experimental result with Test No.1 

     82  

Fig.6 shows the results of the circular arc obtained by the Test number 2. It can be seen from the inspection 

chart that the profile of the arc is greatly improved compared with the previous one. There still defects at the 

bottom of the arc, but the profile on both sides of the arc groove is ideal. Although the error at the bottom of 

the arc is up to 7.5 μm, the error of the arc surface on both sides is mostly within 2 μm. 

Figure. 6  Experimental result with Test No.2 

From the comparison of the above two experiments, it can be concluded that when a large electrical parameter 

is selected, the electrode and the grinding wheel are not sensitive to the discharge gap, and it is difficult to 

ensure high dressing accuracy. When a smaller electrical parameter is used, the electrode and the grinding 

wheel are more sensitive to the discharge gap, and a higher dressing accuracy can be ensured.  

Therefore, when performing spark dressing, large electrical parameters can be used first to obtain higher 

dressing efficiency. And small electrical parameters should be used to obtain higher dressing precision.  



Yaxin Wang, Xiang Li, Yunlei Song, Lifei Liu, Liwei Sun & Shizong Zhang 
Advancements in Dressing Techniques for Metal-Bonded Diamond Grinding Wheels 

 

29| A c a d e m i c  J o u r n a l  o f  S c i e n c e ,  E n g i n e e r i n g  a n d  T e c h n o l o g y |  

https://topjournals.org/index.php/ajset 

3. Conclusion  

For metal-bonded diamond grinding wheel, an electric spark dressing device was developed. The effects of 

different shaping parameters (pulse voltage, duty cycle and period) on dressing accuracy of were studied by 

in-position spark dressing experiments. The following conclusions were drawn:  

1. EDM technology can achieve high-quality and high-quality in dressing of metal-bonded diamond 

grinding wheel;  

2. High dressing efficiency can be achieved with larger electrical parameters while high dressing 

accuracy can be gained with smaller electrical parameters.  

References  

[1]. W.C. Ye. (2002). Reasonable use of superhard-abrasive grinding wheel. Products & Technology, no.5, 

p.47-50.   

[2]. G.Q. Cai, B.F. Feng. (2003). Latest Advances in Grinding and AbrasiveMachining. Aeronautical 

Manufacturing Technology, no.4, p.31-35.   

[3]. Kim J D, Lee Y J. (1994). Mirror surface grinding for brittle materials with inprocess electrolytic dressing. 

Journal of materials engineering and performance, vol.3, no.1, p.159-167.  

[4]. Lee E S, Ahn S O.(1999). Precision surface grinding of Mn–Zn ferrite with inprocess electro-discharge 

dressing (IEDD). International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, vol.39, no.10, p.1655-1671.   

[5]. Tamaki J, Kondoh K, IyamaT.(1999). Electro-contact discharge dressing of metal-bonded diamond 

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no.11, p.1628-1632.   

[6]. Xie J, Tamaki J. (2006). In-process evaluation of grit protrusion feature for fine diamond grinding wheel 

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p.83-90.   

[7]. Rhoney B K, Shih A J, Scattergood R O, et al. (2002). Wire electrical discharge machining of metal bond 

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[8]. Y. Wang, X.J. Zhou, D.J. Hu.(2006). Experimental study on dry electrical discharge assisted truing and 

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[9]. L.R. Cai, Y. Jia. (2009). Dressing of metal-bonded superabrasive grinding wheels by means of mist-jetting 

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