Abstract: Grinding wheels are often characterized by the density and protrusion height of abrasive grains and cutting edges. Measurement and evaluation of grinding wheels contribute to the better understanding of grinding mechanism, which is also the necessary precondition of grinding optimization and simulation. White light interferometer are used to measure the surface topography of alumina grinding wheels. Three-dimensional surface characterization parameters from “Birmingham set” are employed to quantize the surface topography of grinding wheels, in items of grit density, shape and sharpness of grits. Mathematical models of the distribution of protrusion heights, are built based on statistical values of measured results. It is shown that the alumina abrasive grain can be simplified as a cone with tip radius. The tip radius is related with the abrasive grain size, while the cone angle is almost the same due to the same dressing and truing conditions. The result also shows that mathematical models of protrusion height of alumina grinding wheels accord with normal distribution.

Key words: Grain protrusion height, Mathematical model, Quantitive evaluation, Surface topography of grinding wheel