The cutting of materials by abrasive discs is one of the processes that present the best characteristics of economy, efficiency and speed, thereby being very used in the industrial way. Factors as percentages and homogeneity of the mixture's components, size, shape (abrasive strength), toughness and hardness of the abrasive grains, types of binder and materials, disc speed and cutting speed affect the safety, performance and behavior of the cutting operation. This work presents a study about the influence of abrasive disks hardness on their performance to cut-off ductile materials without cooling. The increase of the hardness of the disks resulted in an increase of the tangential cutting force and G ratio, due to stronger bonding between the abrasive particles and the binder in the composite. The results show that the hardness of the abrasive discs affects the economy, because it influences the useful life of the abrasive discs (the numbers cuts provided); the productivity because it determines the number of replaced discs; the necessary efforts for the operation because it is related with the tangential cutting force.
Abrasive discs; hardness; ductile materials
