Dressing of fixed-abrasive tools takes place intermittently during grinding, otherwise the tools lose their grinding capabilities. However, dressing has various demerits such as the reduction of the working efficiency and tool life and the increase of the maintenance cost and environmental impact. Moreover, loading causes the development of scratches, which also has adverse effects such as the generation of difference in level on the surface of products that require machining with high accuracy. Meanwhile, scratches that unexpectedly develop can generate steps, depending on the type of fixed-abrasive tool used. This is because pores are randomly, independently, and discontinuously positioned in abrasive-grain layers even when the layers have the same porosity. Even continuous pores, cannot prevent the development of scratches if they are finite in the length direction. Therefore, a major cause of steps in products machined using fixed-abrasive tools is considered to be loading. To suppress the occurrence of loading, a method that combines grinding with electrolytic has been effectively used. The improvement of machines is expensive and increases their environmental impact. If the frequency of loading in fixed-abrasive tools can be decreased or eliminated without supporting processes, tool life will increase and the cost of manufacturing tools and the environmental impact can be reduced. Previous studies have attempted to improve tool performance by optimizing grain pattern or surface texture. In this report, the authors propose a fixed-abrasive tool with spiral groove on its surface. Continuous spiral groove, instead of pores, is considered to enable the formation of an infinite chip pocket and improve the dischargeability of swarf, which is a cause of loading. Moreover, loading more easily occurs when using abrasive grains with a smaller diameter; it is difficult to use fixed-abrasive tools without supporting processes such as dressing. The adoption of a continuous infinite pore is expected to lead to the realization of tools that require no supporting processes, even those with ultrafine abrasive grains. In the proposed tool with a continuous spiral wire, the wire can be easily attached to or detached from the rod used as the base material, and its winding pattern can be easily controlled. When the tool becomes worn, it can be renewed simply by exchanging the wire; hence, the base material and abrasive grains can continue to be used. Because the procedure for manufacturing the tool is simple, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. The tool is manufactured by composite electroplating. As an advantage of composite electroplating, the fixation of the spiral wire and the support of abrasive grains can be simultaneously realized. Thus, the manufacturing process for the tool is streamlined, which leads to a reduction in environmental impact. The parameters used for evaluating the proposed tool are the wire diameter, spiral angle, and grain diameter. In this study, the following were analyzed using these parameters: (1) the loading and grinding force, (2) the relationship between loading and swarf, and (3) factors affecting the occurrence of loading.
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