Skip to main content
Main Menu
  • Products
    Back
    Products
    • Engineered Particles
      Back
      Engineered Particles
      • Diamond
        Back
        Diamond
        • cBN
          Back
          cBN
          • Alumina
            Back
            Alumina
          • Compounds
            Back
            Compounds
            • Water Soluble Compounds
            • Oil Soluble Compounds
            • Universal Soluble Compounds
          • Polishing Slurries
            Back
            Polishing Slurries
            • Diamond Slurries
              Back
              Diamond Slurries
              • Alumina Slurries
                Back
                Alumina Slurries
                • Nano Abrasive Slurries
                  Back
                  Nano Abrasive Slurries
                  • Engineered buffing and polishing slurries for metal ​
                • Specialty Chemicals
                  Back
                  Specialty Chemicals
                  • Coolants
                    Back
                    Coolants
                    • AmberCut DWC Series
                  • Cleaners
                    Back
                    Cleaners
                    • Lubricants
                      Back
                      Lubricants
                      • Specialty Fluids & Other
                        Back
                        Specialty Fluids & Other
                    • Applications
                      Back
                      Applications
                      • Automotive Clear Coat Polishing
                        Back
                        Automotive Clear Coat Polishing
                        • Fixed Diamond Wire Sawing
                        • Hard Disk Drive
                        • Industrial Polishing
                        • Electronic Substrates
                        • Superabrasive Wheels
                        • Batteries Manufacturing
                      • Blog & Events
                      • Why work with us
                      • Resource Center
                      • Contact Us
                      world SAINT-GOBAIN
                      Logo Saint-Gobain Surface Conditioning
                      • Products
                        • Engineered Particles
                          • Diamond
                          • cBN
                          • Alumina
                        • Compounds
                          • Water Soluble Compounds
                          • Oil Soluble Compounds
                          • Universal Soluble Compounds
                        • Polishing Slurries
                          • Diamond Slurries
                          • Alumina Slurries
                          • Nano Abrasive Slurries
                          • Engineered buffing and polishing slurries for metal ​
                        • Specialty Chemicals
                          • Coolants
                          • Cleaners
                          • Lubricants
                          • Specialty Fluids & Other
                      • Applications
                        • Automotive Clear Coat Polishing
                        • Fixed Diamond Wire Sawing
                        • Hard Disk Drive
                        • Industrial Polishing
                        • Electronic Substrates
                        • Superabrasive Wheels
                        • Batteries Manufacturing
                      • Blog & Events
                      • Why work with us
                      • Resource Center
                      • Contact Us

                      You are here

                      1. Home
                      2. Products
                      3. Engineered Particles
                      4. cBN
                      5. Cubic Boron Nitride Micron

                      Cubic Boron Nitride Micron

                      Cubic boron nitride is a synthetic crystalline material second only to diamond in Knoop hardness. Although softer than diamond, CBN is superior in terms of abrasion resistance and oxidation resistance with steel alloys. Its relative crystalline inertness makes CBN the abrasive of choice for grinding steels, cast iron and nickel-based alloys.

                      Saint-Gobain Surface Conditioning's cubic boron nitride micron is designed for fine grinding and polishing in a variety of demanding surface finishing applications. The micron particles are graded to create a highly consistent PSD, with surface treatment and coatings to match the chosen bond technology.  

                      Applications

                      • Metal bond grinding wheels
                      • Resin bond grinding wheels
                      • Vitrified bond wheels
                      • Electroplated products

                       

                       

                      Cubic Boron Nitride, Label/Bottle

                       

                      • Availability
                      • SPECIFICATIONS
                      • FAQs
                      • Superabrasive Choice

                      ABC Superabrasives Cubic Boron Nitride Micron BrandABC Superabrasives Cubic Boron Nitride Micron Brand

                       

                      CBN-B1 Micron - Black crystal, common micron sizes
                      CBN-B80 Micron - Black crystal common micron sizes

                      CBN-A Micron - Amber crystal, common micron sizes

                       

                       CBN Particle Toughness  / Toughness Index and Size

                      CBN Particle Toughness / Toughness Index & Size | Saint-Gobain Surface Conditioning

                      CBN Particle Toughness / Thermal Toughness Index and Size

                      CBN Particle Toughness / Thermal Toughness Index and Size

                      CBN Particle Toughness / RB Toughness Index and Size

                      CBN-B1 60 / 80 thru
                      325 / 400
                      A black colored crystal, sharp and angular in shape.  Recommended for resin bond and vitrified wheels.  Priced for maximum savings.
                      CBN-B1 Ni 60% 60 / 80 thru
                      325 / 400
                      CBN-B1 crystal coated with 60% nickel recommended for resin bond grinding wheels.
                      CBN-B80 50 / 60 thru
                      325 / 400
                      A unique semi-blocky black crystal.  Its strong crystal strength, sharp  cutting edges and high thermal stability makes B80 an excellent crystal for vitrified wheels.
                      CBN-A90 50 / 60 thru
                      325 / 400
                      An amber colored blocky shaped crystal.  Its blocky shape, coupled with sharp edges and superior crystal strength, makes A90 ideal for electroplated applications.
                      CBN-SL 140 / 170 thru
                      325 / 400
                      CBN-SL is a high strength crystal, blocky in shape, recommended for electroplated applications.
                      CBN-V 50 / 60 thru
                      325 / 400
                      A high strength amber color crystal with angular morphology.  Due to its high thermal stability, CBN-V is recommended for vitrified wheels, resin bond wheels and electroplated products.  Available Ni Coated 60%.

                       

                       

                      Q: What does MICRON mean? 

                      A: MICRON refers to abrasive particle sizes typically 40 µm (1 µm = 40 microinches) or less.

                       

                      Q: What is a SUPERABRASIVE?

                      A: A very hard abrasive, usually natural or synthetic diamond and cubic boron nitride (CBN).  Hardness is measured on the Knoop Scale in megapascals (1 Mpa = 145 lb / in2 ) and diamond is 7000 Mpa with CBN following at 5000.  Conventional abrasives such as silicon carbide and aluminum oxide have much lower Knoop values of 2500 and 2200 respectively.

                       

                      Q: How are MICRON superabrasives measured and classified?

                      A:

                      • It depends on the size range:
                      • 50 nm - 3 mm, Laser Diffraction
                      • 0.5 nm - 10 µm, Dynamic Light Scattering
                      • 1 nm - 100 µm Electrophoretic Light Scattering
                      • 50 nm - 10 mm, Automated Imaging
                      • 10 nm - 100 µm, Sedimentation

                      For more information on fine particle measurement, visit www.malvern.com.  Download this white paper: "A Basic Guide to Particle Characterization" 

                       

                      Q: What are the key properties of superabrasive particles?

                      A: Size, shape, color, surface (extrinsic) chemistry, internal (intrinsic) chemistry, mechanical properties -- Ti and TTi (toughness index / impact strength and thermal toughness index), zeta potential (surface charge) and microstructure.

                       

                      Q: What is Particle Size Distribution (PSD)?

                      A: Most individual grains of a superabrasive powder batch are not the same size (or shape).  The powder consists of a distribution of particles of different sizes represented as a frequency distribution curve.

                       

                      Q: In a Particle Size Distribution (PSD) curve, what do the terms Median, Mode and Mean represent?

                      A:

                      • Median: the size where 50% of the particles is below/above that size
                      • Mode: the size with the highest frequency (i.e. the greatest number of particles with the largest size)
                      • Mean: the average size of the entire particle population

                       

                      Q: What is electroless nickel plating?

                      A: Electroless nickel plating (EN) is an auto-catalytic chemical technique used to deposit a layer of nickel-phosphorus on a solid workpiece, such as metal or plastic.  The process relies on the presence of a reducing agent, for example hydrated sodium hypophosphite (NaPO2H2·H2O) which reacts with the metal ions to deposit metal.  Alloys with different percentages of phosphorus, ranging from 2 - 5 (low phosphorus) to up to 11 - 14 (high phosphorus) are possible.  The metallurgical properties of alloys depend on the percentage of phosphorus.

                       

                      Q: What is electroless copper plating?

                      A: Essentially the same process as electroless nickel, but copper is the coating element. 

                       

                      Q: Why are superabrasives offered with nickel or copper coatings?

                      A: To improve the adhesion of the superabrasive in the bond matrix of the grinding wheel and to aid removal of heat from the grinding zone.

                       

                      Q: What is Ti and TTi?

                      A: Ti and TTi stand for Toughness Index and Thermal Toughness Index.  This is a measurement of the impact strength of the superabrasive and its ability to resist mechanical breakdown (friability).

                      The Ti test is performed on a superabrasive at room temperature.  The TTi test is run at room temperature on a superabrasive previously raised to an elevated temperature and allowed to cool down – this mimics the performance of the superabrasive in a grinding wheel in “real world” conditions. 

                      The Ti and TTi test is performed to ANSI (American National Standards Institute).

                       

                      Q: What is friability?

                      A: A measure of the ability of a superabrasive to be pulverized, crumbled or otherwise reduced to a powder.  Ti and TTi testing are employed to measure friability in superabrasives.

                       

                      Q: Why is diamond so hard?

                      A: Diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called an atomic diamond lattice. It is this atomic structure which defines diamond's hardness. Diamond is well-known as a material with excellent physical qualities, most of which depend on strong covalent bonds between its atoms.  Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any material and those properties make it the abrasive of choice in many industrial drilling, grinding, lapping and polishing applications.

                       

                      The basic physical and chemical properties of synthetic diamond and CBN types can influence the performance of grinding wheels and superabrasive tools.  Several properties should be considered when choosing the optimum superabrasive for a specific application:

                      • Color
                      • Particle size and particle size distribution (PSD)
                      • Particle shape / morphology / aspect ratio / ellipticity
                      • Toughness and thermal toughness index (Ti & TTi)
                      • Extrinsic / surface chemical purity and cleanliness
                      • Intrinsic chemical purity
                      • Coating types and percentage by weight

                       Contact us

                      RELATED APPLICATIONS

                      • Diamond and CBN Products for Superabrasive Wheels | Saint-Gobain Surface Conditioning

                        Superabrasive Wheels

                      • Particles, Slurries & Specialty Chemicals for Industrial Polishing | Saint-Gobain

                        Industrial Polishing

                      >

                      Related Documents

                      Related Products

                      Cubic Boron Nitride Mesh
                      Saint-Gobain Surface Conditioning is a business of Saint-Gobain Ceramic Materials

                       

                      • Engineered Particles
                      • Polishing Slurries
                      • Compounds
                      • Specialty Chemicals
                      • Applications
                      • Site Map
                      • Legal
                      • CATSCA

                       CONTACT US

                       

                       FOLLOW US

                      © Copyright Saint-Gobain 2020. All rights reserved.