Diamond Abrasive Particles, Precision Engineering
PremaDia
Precision m achining with diamond abrasives has become increasingly specialised. The wide ranges of workpiece materials and machining requirement has resulted in a wide variety of diamond abrasive products.
Product Range
These products have been developed for applications in metal, electroplated, resin and vitrified bond tools. The PremaDia range comprises 12 basic products. The range extends from PremaDia PDA 999, a high strength crystalline abrasive suitable for demanding applications and high production rates, to the micro-chipping PremaDia PDA321 and PDA 211 that are suitable for finding cemented tungsten carbides and hard ceramics.
PDA999
PremaDia999 is a highly crystalline synthetic diamond product with a high impact strength, thermal stability and uniform particle shape. It is designed to withstand the high dynamic loads encountered in very demanding metal bond applications.
PDA989
This is designed for use in high productivity metal bond grinding applications. It performs particularly well in applications requiring a high strength abrasive. It is a blocky, crystalline material with a high impact strength and high thermal stability.
PDA878
With properties between those of PDA989, PDA768 and PDA878, this is a high performance metal bond abrasive. This product is a crystalline material with a good impact strength at both room and high temperatures and is designed to give good performance over a variety of metal bond applications.
PDA768
A strong well-shaped synthetic diamond with a combination of sharp and blocky crystals. The physical characteristics of PDA768 are designed to ensure that it is a versatile abrasive suitable for use in the broad spectrum of metal bond diamond tools utilised in the glass and ceramics industries.
PDA657
T his is a processed synthetic diamond abrasive with a consistent but irregular crystal shape. PDA657 is suitable for use in less demanding applications where sharp cutting characteristics are important. The nickel clad form of this abrasive, PremaDia PDA 657NX55 is ideal for grinding combinations of tungsten carbide and steel.
PDA446
This is an engineered synthetic diamond abrasive with a sharp particle shape to ensure good free-cutting characteristics. The average particle strength is controlled to make it suitable for use in metal bond tools where low abrasive strength is required. This degree of friability also makes it suitable in its metal clad form as PDA446NX55 in some resin bond applications.
PDA665
This is a premium natural diamond material consisting of engineered, blocky well-shaped particles. Being natural diamond exposure to elevated temperatures has little significant effect on the strength of the crystal. It is suited to many grinding applications particles for use in electroplated tools.
PDA555
This is a natural diamond abrasive consisting of engineered particles that are friable and irregular in shape. It has the high thermal strength and sharp cutting characteristics of natural diamond.
PDA433
This a friable abrasive suitable for use in a wide range of standard resin bond applications and is offered with the full range of metal claddings. It is recommended for use in general purpose applications and offers the diamond toolmaker an economical abrasive of guaranteed high quality.
PDA321
PDA321 comes with a micro-chipping structure that ensures the degree of friability required for high quality resin bond tools. In the unclad form it is suitable for use in vitrified bonds and special resin bond applications. It is available in the full range of metal cladding for use in resin bond tools.
PDA311
This synthetic diamond abrasive is a friable product developed for resin bond tools and can also satisfy the requirements of a general purpose abrasive in other bond systems.
PDA211
This is a more friable product than the PDA321 and combines the properties of friability with a micro-chipping crystal structure. This makes it a highly efficient abrasive for machining cermet and ceramic workpieces with low grinding forces and good tool life. It is available in both clad and unclad forms.
PremaDia PDA 989E
In EP bond systems, a slightly roughened surface on the abrasive particle can aid bond retention. All PremaDia synthetic diamond products above an Element Six Particle structure indicator value of 7 are available with E- Treatment. Products are ranged in terms of their relative particle characteristics in the PremaDia Indicator Chart (which is shown in our PremaDia brochure in the Literature Tab)All products are offered as standardin the size range 60 to 400
For the PremaDia range, Element Six has developed a special indicator system to assist the diamond toolmaker in selecting the right product. For more information see our Product Brochure
- Product Literature
- Applications
- Parameters
- Material Safety
More information about our Diamond Abrasive Particles, Precision Engineering is available in our Brochure and Announcement Sheets:
The main application area for diamond is for machining non-ferrous materials, which are usually either very hard or abrasive or both. The main application areas for diamond grinding wheels are in the machining of:
- tungsten carbide
- glass
- ceramics
- refractory materials
- semiconductor materials
- semi - precious stones
- polycrystalline diamond and polycrystalline cBN
- natural stone
Diamond abrasives, although being hard and highly abrasion resistant, have one limitation in respect of their application - that being their chemical reaction which can occur at high temperatures in the presence of iron. Consequently diamond is therefore not widely used to machine ferrous materials except in a few specialised applications. The preferred superabrasive for machining ferrous materials is CBN (cubic boron nitride).
The PremaDia Indicator System
For each of its products, Element Six has developed a unique product indicator system to help customers select the optimum product for theis appliations.(The indicator system is inluded in our PremaDia brochure in the Literature Tab) This system describes each abrasive on the basis of three of the most important characteristics of a diamond particle.Each of these characteristics has been assigned a ranking or Indicator Value relative to the other diamond grits within the PremaDia range. It is these three indicator values which make up the designation of each PremaDia product.
The indicator scale is graduated from 1 to 9. As this is a relative ranking, the increments are not necessarily equal. A low or a high indicator value does not imply that a grit is "good" or "bad". It merely serves as an aid to choice, enabling the toolmaker to select the product with optimum characteristics for each particular application.
Particle Strength at room Temperature
The first indicator, and first digit in the product nomenclature, relates to average particle strength at room temperature. The strength of the diamond abrasive has always been one of the industry's primary determinants in grit selection. Its implications for performance, durability and efficiency are of great importance to the diamond toolmaker. The strongest material in the PremaDia range is PremaDia PDA 999.
Particle Strength at high Temperature
In the PremaDia range, the strongest material after exposure to high temperature is PremaDia PDA 999, and this has been assigned an indicator value of 9. The other products have been assigned an indicator value of 9. The other products have been ranked in order below this. The impact strength of natural diamond, unlike that of synthetic diamond, is not significantly affected by exposure to high temperatures, for example PDA 665.
Particle Structure
The third indicator refers to crystal structure. To achieve and maintain optimum and consistent cutting behaviour throughout the life of the tool, it is important that the abrasive particles in the diamond tool fracture in a way which is compatible with both the workpiece material and the machining conditions. Highly crystalline products, eg PDA 999 with good internal integrity are regular in shape and fracture progressively under impact to form effective cutting surfaces. Processed synthetic and natural diamond particles eg PDA 665 are more irregular in shape and have a sharper cutting action. By comparison, a resin bond diamond, PremaDia PDA 321N55, has a mosaic structure, with free cutting, micro-chipping characteristics.
Our product sheets contain all the relevant information covering the application and safe use of our products. You can download the information by clicking on the link below but if you would like more information about a particular issue please contact us: info@e6.com