Abrasive Articles and Methods for the Manufacture and Use of Same

Abstract

An abrasive article. The abrasive article comprises an abrasive surface; and a performance index associated with the abrasive article, the index indicating an aspect of the abrasive performance of the article. In abrasive applications, the performance index is used to determine initial process conditions under which the abrasive article will abrade a workpiece. A process for making the abrasive article comprises (a) providing an abrasive article having an abrasive surface; (b) providing a workpiece having an abradable surface thereon; (c) abrading the abradable surface by applying the abrasive surface against the abradable surface at a known applied pressure and velocity and relatively moving the abrasive article and the abradable surface during a predetermined period of time; (d) devising a performance index based on the abrasive performance of the abrasive article during the abrading step (c); and (e) associating the performance index with the abrasive article.

1 . An abrasive article for abrading a workpiece comprising an abradable surface of a first material at a known applied pressure and velocity, the abrasive article comprising: 
 (a) an abrasive surface; and    (b) a performance index, the performance index based on performance of the abrasive article during an abrading of a test workpiece comprising a second material different than the first material which can be associated with process conditions under which the abrasive article can be used to abrade the abradable surface of the workpiece.    
   
   
       2 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the performance index is provided on the abrasive surface of the abrasive article.  
   
   
       3 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the performance index is provided on a non-abrasive surface of the abrasive article.  
   
   
       4 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the performance index is provided in machine readable format.  
   
   
       5 . The abrasive article of  claim 1 , wherein the performance index is provided in alpha-numeric format.  
   
   
       6 . A packaged abrasive article for abrading a workpiece comprising an abradable surface of a first material at a known applied pressure and velocity, the abrasive article comprising: 
 (a) an abrasive surface;    (b) a performance index, the performance index based on performance of the abrasive article during an abrading of a test workpiece comprising a second material different than the first material which can be associated with process conditions under which the abrasive article can be used to abrade the abradable surface of the workpiece; and    (c) a package, with the performance index provided on the package and the abrasive article is in the package.    
   
   
       7 . The packaged abrasive article of  claim 6  wherein the performance index is provided in machine readable format.  
   
   
       8 . The packaged abrasive article of  claim 6  wherein the performance index is provided in alpha-numeric format.