Saint-Gobain Abrasives has a long history of working with leading UK Aerospace and Industrial Gas Turbine (IGT) companies to provide solutions to optimise their grinding processes.
| Our clients see successful results thanks to our expert engineers working closely with their production teams and engineers – this helps us to assess the whole operation from source to finished goods, so we can advise on the best ways to improve their precision grinding processes to save both time and money. We often work with companies that have niche processes and diverse manufacturing capabilities, so there is no one size fits all approach when assessing the needs of a business. Setting Clear Goals and Objectives When we begin working with a client, we ask them to outline their objectives ahead of testing. This can include increasing wheel life to generate cost savings, optimising manufacturing processes, improving part quality and reducing manufacturing (door to door time) time. Our application engineers will benchmark the existing processes in order to have clear metrics to work from and more importantly improve upon. |  |
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Choosing the Optimum Precision Grinding Wheel Saint-Gobain Abrasives were recently involved in a project with an Industrial Gas Turbine manufacturer, whose engineers were exploring ways to improve the life of their abrasive wheels in order to generate further cost savings. The manufacturer felt that they had exhausted all options; however, using an optimised Saint-Gobain cut strategy to increase stock removal and reduce dressing, engineers from Saint-Gobain Abrasives decided the Norton Vitrium3 (Creep feed) precision grinding wheel could help the manufacturer to achieve their targets. |
Norton Vitrium3 (Creep feed) precision grinding wheels were introduced into their manufacturing process and the results were impressive.
Not only did the manufacturer achieve all of their targets, the introduction of the Norton Vitrium3 (Creep feed) precision grinding wheels also optimised their manufacturing process as a result of having faster operating speeds and increased longevity - due to the Vitrium3 bond.
The results demonstrated significant savings due to increased table speeds and cut depths (Q prime), reduced wheel wear and improvements to the surface finish.
There were also additional savings, which included a reduction in the annual spend on precision grinding wheels by nearly 25%, as well as a reduction in the process time per part of over 30%.
The manufacturer was now making fewer wheel changes and saving a significant amount of time and money as a result. Further details on this case study can be found here.
Norton Precision Grinding Wheels
Precision grinding applications include cylindrical external grinding (OD grinding), internal grinding (ID grinding), surface grinding and centreless grinding. In fact, all grinding applications that require specific dimensions and tolerances are classed as precision grinding.
Norton offers a wide range of wheel shapes (wheels, segments, cups and dishes), as well as diamond and CBN grinding wheels for grinding tungsten carbide tipped saw blades, milling cutters and machining knives.
For more information on our abrasive solutions for the Aerospace and IGT industry, or if you are interested in conducting a test to see if we can improve your processes, then please contact us or speak to your local sales representative.