Vitreous Bonded Abrasive

Abstract

A vitrified superabrasive product includes a superabrasive component and a vitrified bond component in which the superabrasive component is dispersed. The vitrified bond includes an oxide of a lanthanoid. Additionally, the vitrified bond component defines pores that can be essentially all less than 800 μm in diameter. Seventy percent of the pores are in a range of between about 40 μm and about 500 μm and have an average aspect ratio less than about 2. The porosity is in a range of between about 50% and about 90% of the total volume of the superabrasive product.

1 . A vitrified superabrasive product, comprising:
 a) a superabrasive component; and   b) a vitrified bond component in which the superabrasive component is dispersed, wherein the vitrified bond component defines pores that are essentially all less than 800 μm in diameter, seventy percent of which are in a range of between about 40 μm and about 500 and have an average aspect ratio less than about 2,   wherein the vitrified superabrasive product has a Surface Roughness Index of not greater than about 35 Angstroms.   
     
     
         2 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the Surface Roughness Index is not greater than about 33 Angstroms. 
     
     
         3 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the pores are essentially all less than 700 μm. 
     
     
         4 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the vitrified bond component defines pores and the majority of the pores are large pores having a median pore size of at least about 100 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein a large pore spacing distance between immediately adjacent large pores is not greater than a radial distance (D R ), wherein the radial distance (D R ) is defined as a measure of the average radius of the large pores. 
     
     
         6 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the large pore spacing is not greater than about 0.5 (D R ). 
     
     
         7 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 4 , wherein a majority of the large pores are abutting each other. 
     
     
         8 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 7 , wherein at least about 75% of the large pores are abutting each other. 
     
     
         9 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein bond bridges comprising the vitrified bond material extend between the large pores. 
     
     
         10 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 9 , wherein the bond bridges comprise small pores having an aspect ratio of less than about 2. 
     
     
         11 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 10 , wherein the small pores have a median pore size of less than about 100 μm. 
     
     
         12 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 11 , wherein the small pores have a median pore size of between about 1μm and about 100 μm. 
     
     
         13 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the average aspect ratio of the pores is less than about 1.5. 
     
     
         14 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the porosity is in a range of between about 55% and about 85% of the total volume of the superabrasive product. 
     
     
         15 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the superabrasive component includes at least one member selected from the group consisting of diamond, cubic boron nitride, zirconia and aluminum oxide. 
     
     
         16 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the superabrasive component is present in an amount in a range of between about 0.1 and about 20 volume percent of the vitrified superabrasive product. 
     
     
         17 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 16 , wherein the median particle size of the superabrasive component is in a range of between about 0.1 microns and about 60 microns. 
     
     
         18 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the volume ratio of superabrasive component to vitrified bond component is in a range of between about 3:2 and about 1:99. 
     
     
         19 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the vitrified bond component includes at least one member selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO2), boron oxide (B2O3), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), alkali oxides (Li2O, Na2O, K2O) and alkaline earth oxides (CaO, MgO, BaO). 
     
     
         20 . The vitrified superabrasive product of  claim 1 , wherein the vitrified superabrasive product is configured as at least a component of a grinding tool.