Abrasive technologies are currently indispensable for production processes in various industries, such as the automotive, aerospace, optics, telecommunications, and healthcare industries. In
production in these industries, even though it may be difficult to obtain the required accuracy and quality through other machining methods, abrasive technologies overcome the problems, yielding high surface quality with high dimensional and shape accuracy as a result. On the other hand, high-hardness materials, such as hardening die steels, cemented carbides, ceramics, and semiconductor materials, as well as heat-resistant materials, such as titanium alloys and nickel-based alloys, have become more difficult to machine as they have been developed. The accuracy and efficiency required of them have also increased. In order to realize these required types of processing, it is necessary to further advance the research and development of abrasive technologies, such as grinding and polishing. To these ends, it is important to elucidate the mechanisms of grinding and polishing and to develop processing techniques based on them. In addition, it is important to develop abrasive tools, including the abrasives they use, and to develop technologies peripheral to abrasive processing, such as tool conditioning techniques, coolant supply systems, and the coolants themselves.
This special issue covers the high-precision abrasive technologies of grinding, lapping, polishing, and jet machining, as well as magnetic machining technologies, vibration-assisted abrasive
technologies, and energy-assisted abrasive technologies.