grinding (redirected from grindingly)

grinding, process by which surface material is removed from an object, usually metal, by the abrasive action of a rotating wheel or a moving belt that contains abrasive grains. A grinding wheel can be made by mixing a bonding material, usually clay, with abrasive grains of such substances as silicon carbide or aluminum oxide. The mixture is then shaped into a wheel and hardened. A grindstone is a grinding wheel made by shaping naturally occurring sandstone, which contains abrasive quartz grains. Grinding is used in many manufacturing processes to produce a fine surface finish on an object and to bring the size of an object to within very fine tolerances. A grinding machine has devices that hold an unfinished object and move it past the machine's abrasive wheel or belt, which is driven by a motor. For less exacting work, such as sharpening cutting tools, objects can be hand held and ground by a machine consisting mainly of an abrasive wheel or belt. For many products grinding is only one step in a finishing process that involves additional similar operations such as honing, lapping, polishing, and buffing.

---

grinding [′grīn·diŋ]

(electronics)

A mechanical operation performed on silicon substrates of semiconductors to provide a smooth surface for epitaxial deposition or diffusion of impurities.

A mechanical operation performed on quartz crystals to alter their physical size and hence their resonant frequencies.

(mechanical engineering)

Reducing a material to relatively small particles.

Removing material from a workpiece with a grinding wheel.

(mining engineering)

The act or process of continuing to drill after the bit or core barrel is blocked, thereby crushing and destroying any core that might have been produced.