ADVANCED 3D LASER MICROSCOPY FOR MEASUREMENTS AND ANALYSIS OF VITRIFIED BONDED ABRASIVE TOOLS

In many applications, when a precise non-contact assessment of an abrasive tools’ surface is required, alternative measurement methods are often used. Their use offers numerous advantages (referential method) as they introduce new qualities into routinely realized measurements. Over the past few years there has been a dynamic increase in the interest for using new types of classical confocal microscopy. These new types are often defined as 3D laser microscopy. This paper presents select aspects of one such method’s application – confocal laser scanning microscopy – for diagnostic analysis of abrasive tools. In addition this paper also looks at the basis for operation, the origins and the development of this measurement technique.The experimental part of this paper presents the select results of tests carried out on grinding wheel active surfaces with sintered microcrystalline corundum grains SG bound with glass-crystalline bond. The 3D laser measuring microscopes LEXT OLS3100 and LEXT OLS4000 by Olympus were used in the experiments. Analysis of the obtained measurement data was carried out in dedicated OLS 5.0.9 and OLS4100 2.1 programs, supported by specialist TalyMap Platinum 5.0 software. The realized experiments confirmed the possibility of using the offered measurement method. This concerns both the assessment of grinding wheel active surfaces and their defects, as well as the internal structures of the tools (grain-bond connections). The method presented is an interesting alternative to the typical methods used in the diagnostics of abrasive tools.