For bonded superabrasive tools, bodies of steel, aluminium, resin and resin-aluminium are common. New body designs with carbon fiber reinforced resin enable even higher circumferential speeds over 200 m/s. The productivity seems to be improved and consumed spindle power decreased.
Abrasive layers can be fixed with adhesives as segments. Glue type and tool preparation steps, e. g. degreasing, are crucial for adhesive quality.
Tool macro-design depends on process kinematics and the desired workpiece shape. Furthermore, the effective wheel width defines overall grinding power or surface quality in the case of traverse grinding processes. For example, cup wheels with a higher layer width can achieve significantly lower workpiece roughness than cup wheels with a small layer width due to the higher number of passes [JUCH78].
The scale of abrasive tool production and the scale of the individual tool components both are interesting for the product price, possible automation, and near-net-shape manufacturing. Superabrasive grinding tools, for example, are near-net-shape products whereas conventional tools have to be machined after the hardening/sintering process to achieve appropriate concentricity, evenness of the faces and desired profile. This leads to additional waste during shaping, auxiliary time, energy, etc.