Engineering materials

Abrasives
 ABRASIVES

Abrasive are hard substances, used for polishing,

shaping, grinding
operations. They are characterized by high melting point,
high hardness
and chemical inertness.

 Characteristics of abrasives:

Characteristics of an abrasive are as follows

They are very hard.
They are chemically inert.
They have high melting point.
They possess high refractoriness.
They should not be affected by the frictional heat.
They should be resistant to mechanical shock.
They should resist the abrading action.
 Mohs scale of hardness

Hardness is the most important property of an

abrasive. It is the
ability or capacity of an abrasive to grind away another
substance.
Mineralogist has suggested a scale for determining the
hardness of
abrasive substances known as Mohs scale or Vickers scale.
 Scale
In this scale, the hardness of common abrasives are
given in the
increasing order. According to this scale, talcum power is
having the
hardness of one and it is the softest material and the
diamond is having
the hardness of 10 and it is considered as the hardest
material. The
hardness of any material on Mohs scale therefore falls
between 1 and 10.
 Name of the
Chemical formula Mohs number
abrasives
Talc 3MgO.4SiO2.H2O 1
Gypsum CaSO4.2H2O 2
Calcite CaCO3 3
Fluorine CaF2 4
Apatite CaF2.3Ca3(PO4)2 5
Feldspar K2O.Al2O3.6H2O 6
Quartz SiO2 7
Topaz AlF3.SiO2 8
Corundum Al2O3 9
diamond C 10
 Properties of abrasives:

Hardness
It is the ability of an abrasive to grind or scratch away
other materials. The harder the abrasive the quicker will
be its abrading action. Hardness of the abrasive is
measured on Mohs scale or Vickers scale.

Measurement of hardness using mohs scale:

Mohs scale is a scale in which common abrasives
(natural or artificial) are arranged in the order of
increasing hardness. Talc, quartz, diamond have got
1,7,10 in mohs scale. Abrasive having their hardness 1-4
in Mohs scale are known as soft abrasives.
Toughness:
Abrasives are generally hard and brittle, which is
otherwise known as toughness.

Abrasive power:
It is the strength of an abrasive to grind away another
material. It depends on hardness, toughness and
refractoriness.
 Classification of abrasives:

Natural abrasives
Non-siliceous abrasives

Diamond:
It is pure crystalline carbon. It is the hardest known
substance. It is chemically inert and not affected by acids
or alkalies. The off-color diamond is called borts and black
color diamond is called carbonado.

It is used in drill points, cutting rocks, stones and

grinding wheels.
Diamond:

One of the allotropes of

carbon
Diamond is one form of
the element carbon.

Allotropes: Different (structural) forms of

the same element
Diamond

Has a giant covalent structure

Giant network of carbon atoms held
together by covalent bonds in a
tetrahedral arrangement
These four carbon atoms
form a tetrahedron.
Diamond

Each carbon is joined to four other carbon

atoms by strong covalent bonds.
Each carbon has four
covalent bonds.
 Properties of Diamond
Very high M.P. and B.P.
(Diamond melts at about 3500C)
Hardest natural substance

Reason:
Carbon atoms are held together in a giant rigid
structure by strong covalent bonds.
A lot of energy is required to break these strong
covalent bonds.
Properties of Diamond

Does not conduct

electricity
All electrons are held in
the covalent bonds.
No ions or free
electrons to conduct
electricity

Insoluble in water
Uses of Diamond

Used in cutting other hard solids (because of its

hardness)
E.g. Diamond-tipped drills to cut through rock
Corundum:

It is pure crystalline alumina (Al2O3). Its hardness on mohs

scale is 8
. It is arock-formingmineral.

Uses:

It is used for grinding glasses, gems, lenses, metals, etc.

Emery:
corundite is a dark granular rock used to make abrasive
powder

It is a fine grained, opaque, black colored mineral. It

consist of

55-75% crystalline alumina

20-40% magnesite
12% other minerals

Uses:
It is used in the tip of cutting and drilling tools, and
also it is used in making abrasive paper and cloth.
Siliceous abrasives:

Quartz:
Its crystal structure is a continuous framework of SiO4
siliconoxygen
tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two
tetrahedra,
giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2.
Its hardness is 7 on Mohs scale.

Uses:
Garnet:
Garnets are nesosilicateshaving the general
formulaX3Y2(SiO4)3. TheXsite is usually occupied by divalent
cations (Ca,Mg,Fe,Mn)2+and theYsite by trivalent cations
like (Al, Fe,Cr)3+with [SiO4]4occupying the tetrahedral
arrangement.
It is a mixture of trisilicates of alumina, magnesia and ferrous
oxide. Its hardness ranges from 6-7.5 on Mohs scale.

Uses:
It is used in making abrasive paper and abrasive cloth, it is
also used in glass grinding and polishing and polishing metals.
Synthetic abrasives
Silicon carbide or carborundum (SiC)
Manufacture:
Silicon carbide is manufactured by heating sand (60%) and coke
(40%) with some saw-dust and a little salt in an electric furnace to
about 1500C. Saw-dust evolves gases during burning, which on
circulation increases the porosity.

Salt reacts with iron and other similar impurities present in the
raw materials, forming volatile chlorides. This also increases the
porosity of the final products.

SiO2+ 3C SiC + 2CO at (1500C)

The silicon carbide, removed from the furnace is then mixed with
bonding agent (like clay silicon nitride) and then shaped, dried
and fired.
Properties:

Silicon carbide possesses thermal conductivity, low

expansion and high resistance to abrasion (rubbing away
of surface layers by friction) and spalling.

They are mechanically strong and withstand loads in

furnace up to 1650C.

Heat conductivity of SiC is intermediate between metals

and ceramic materials.
Uses:

Silicon carbides are used as heating elements in furnaces in

the form of rods and bars.

They are also used for partition walls of chamber kilns, coke
ovens, muffle furnace, and floors of heat-treatment furnaces.

SiC bonded with tar are excelled for making high conductivity
crucibles.
BORON CARBIDE (B4C) or NORBIDE
Manufacture:
It is prepared by heating a mixture of boron oxide
(B2O3 ) and coke (carbon) in an electric furnace to about
2700C.
2B2O3+7C B4C + 6CO (at 2700C)
Properties:

Its hardness is 9 on Mohs scale.

It is light in weight and black colored compound.

It is highly resistant to chemical attack and corrosion.

It resists oxidation much better than diamond.

Uses:

It is used as hard material for making grinding dies, and for

cutting and sharpening hard high-speed tools.

It is used to prepare scratch and wear resistant coatings.

It is used in the nozzles for sand blasting

ALUNDUM (Al2O3)

Manufacture:

Synthetic alumina called as alundum. It is prepared by

heating a mixture of calcined bauxite, coke and iron in an
electric furnace to about 4000C. It is an artificial
corundum. It is not as hard as carborundum but is less
brittle and tougher.

4Al + 3O2 2 Al2O3

 Properties:

It is not as hard as carborundum but it is brittle and

tougher

It is stable at high temperature

It is very hard

It is resistant to hydration and to attack by acid

APPLICATIONS OF ABRASIVES : Abrasives are used in three forms.

1. as loose powder

Example: quartz and garnet

2. as abrasive paper or cloth

Manufacture of abrasive paper and cloth:

The roll of paper or cloth is made to pass through a series of rollers, and a

thin coating glue is applied on its upper side. It is then passed under a

hopper from which the gravel of abrasive is allowed to fall and spread evenly

on the glued paper or cloth.

Then it is dried in warm drying room. Finally it is allowed to age for few days,

so that the glue sets firmly.

Uses:

It is used to prepare smooth wood, metal and plastic surfaces.

Example: alumina and silicon carbide.

3. as grinding wheels

Manufacture of grinding wheels:

Grinding wheel is manufactured by mixing abrasive

grains with binder. The mixture is molded into desired
shape and heated.

Uses:

It is used for the removal of scales from iron surfaces,

cutting tool sharpening