SOLUTIONS FOR

GRINDING PROCESSES

Company Profile Winterthur Technology Group

The individual, group companies show an industrial

history rich in tradition and experience. WST

Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG was founded in 1906

in Switzerland in order to supply the expanding Swiss

metalworking and machine tool industry. After a long

period of collaboration in resin bonded grinding

wheels with the Austrian grinding wheel manufacturer

Rappold Schleifmittel Industrie GmbH, the two

companies joined forces in 1992. Rappold was

founded in 1876 and has established itself as one of

the leading manufacturers of large diameter cut-off

discs for the steel industry. In 1999, the

largest Swedish grinding wheel manufacturer,

SlipNaxos AB, joined the group. SlipNaxos was

founded in 1920 and has specialised itself, among

other activities, in the manufacturing of hot-pressed

grinding wheels for the conditioning of slabs and

billets in the steel industry.

An ideal match covering customer focus, technological

orientation and geographical presence offers customers

significant advantages. For these reasons, a new

process oriented supplier, active across the globe,

has been created.

The most important users of the Group's abrasive

wheels are the automotive, the ball and roller bearing,

the tool and steel industries. Winterthur Technology

Group keeps all production sites at state-of-the art

standards and places a high value on the traditional

brands. Production capacity in the three locations

ensures uninterrupted, safe supply to all customers

worldwide.

All production sites operate according to international

quality standards for manufacturing and environ-

mental protection (EN ISO 9001:2000 and EN ISO

14001:2004).

Continuous application oriented research and deve-

lopment are the cornerstone of the Group's business

philosophy. The Group reinvests 5% of its turnover

for these activities. One third of the group´s products,

The Winterthur Technology Group is one of Europe's three leading manu-

facturers of bonded abrasives for industrial applications. Rappold-

Winterthur's plants in Winterthur, Switzerland, Villach, Austria, and the

SlipNaxos site in Sweden, have sufficient capacity to play a decisive role on

a global scale in their area of activity. Using a common strategy, the three

sites have focused their know-how and competency. The Winterthur

Technology Group is a process-oriented partner supplying custom-made

solutions to the industry across the globe.

WINTERTHUR TECHNOLOGY GROUP

SHAPING THE FUTURE

sold currently have been developed within the last

three years. Product innovation continuously enlarges

and cements the market position of the Group and

safeguards its future.

Winterthur Technology Group is mainly active in

Europe, however through its subsidiary, Winterthur

Corporation, it has maintained a dominant niche

position in the United States. The Asian market is

being actively pursued and supported with carefully

selected agencies which continually grow the

Group's business, particularly in China, India,

Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Besides the three production sites, 65 partners and

subsidiaries worldwide serve the customers of the

Winterthur Technology Group.

PRODUCT AND SERVICE OVERVIEW

Vitrified grinding wheels

• OD and ID cylindrical grinding wheels

• Creep-feed grinding wheels

• Centerless grinding wheels

• Surface and profile grinding wheels

• Gear grinding wheels

• Thread and worm grinding wheels

• Mounted points

• Segments

Resin bonded grinding wheels

• Cut-off wheels up to Ø 2000 mm

• Hot-pressed wheels for grinding slabs and billets

• Roll grinding wheels

• Centerless grinding wheels

• Tool and cutter grinding wheels

• Saw sharpening wheels

• Fettling wheels

Diamond and CBN wheels

• Resin bonded diamond and CBN wheels

• Vitrified diamond and CBN wheels with closed

or segmented rim design

• High speed CBN wheels

• Diamond grinding wheels for solid carbide

inserts

• Cam- and crankshaft grinding wheels

Optimisation Software and Services

• Optima software for process optimisation

• Naxotech (Measurement of grinding forces)

• Grinding seminars

• Engineering support

This strong customer orientation is supported by the

Group’s strategy of focussing on research and

development. In Villach / Austria and Västervik /

Sweden highly specialized R & D engineers use

sophisticated technical equipment to achieve

their research goals. Over the last years the R & D

departments have been enlarged and their budgets

increased significantly. Universities and external

research institutes are integrated as partners in a

growing scientific network yielding exciting results

in fundamental research projects.

The financial investment and the risks taken were

rewarded with a significant success in areas such as

the grinding of gears and components for gas and

aircraft turbines. The Group could also secure a top

INNOVATION AND QUALITY

position in the areas of high-speed grinding, high-

pressure grinding and abrasive cutting-off. The

Group’s individual companies have won top rankings

in nationwide innovation contests. For example,

Rappold Winterthur Technologie GmbH has been

awarded with the top prize of Carinthia for research

and innovation. Group companies have also been

honoured with ecology as well as employer awards.

Winterthur Technology has always been dedicated to

quality and it was not by accident that Rappold

Winterthur Technologie GmbH was the first

European abrasive tool producer to be certified

according to ISO 9000ff. This quality orientation

not only applies to products and services but

extends to the areas of workplace and environmental

The Winterthur Technology Group accepts the challenge of a global economy and is dedicated to continuous

improvement and to innovate grinding processes and products. It is our ongoing effort to provide customers

with new products, improving economics to support productivity increases.

One third of the group’s grinding wheel sales in the last business year were achieved with products which

had not been on the market three years ago. Within these three years the company has doubled the

number of patent applications compared to the previous 10 years.

As a rule, suppliers are generally the best in the field of their activity as they have to undergo a continuous evaluation process. All our development and quality

efforts are based on customer demands and needs. This is the reason for many successful partnership projects with end-users and innovative machine tool

manufacturers worldwide.

safety. This claim is borne out by the EN ISO 14001

certificate, whereas our internal standards even

exceed legal standards in the relevant areas. All

sites are certified according to EN ISO 9001 and

apply the latest quality assurance systems.

WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG specialises in

the manufacture of vitrified grinding wheels for high

precision processes. For grinding tasks such as

grinding automotive gears, creep-feed applications

for the gas turbine or aerospace industries, the

cylindrical grinding of fuel injection parts etc., high

quality precision grinding wheels are a must. In this

field the Winterthur brand stands for competence

and innovation.

Tradition leads to know-how

WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG was founded in

1906 in the city of Winterthur, near Zurich, as

Schweizerische Schmirgelscheibenfabrik AG (Swiss

Emery Wheel Works Ltd). As part of its business

policy, WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG has

always worked closely with the main Swiss machine

tool builders (OEMs). Through this and other

collaborations Winterthur has taken part in many

important developments in precision grinding, and

close collaboration with OEMs is still a key part of

Winterthur's overall business strategy.

On the basis of these technological partnerships,

much of the Group's know-how regarding vitrified

high precision grinding wheels is concentrated in

Winterthur focusing on sophisticated customers.

The strong service component is made up of

application-oriented grinding seminars for end

users, and the development of grinding software

also plays a key role in customer orientation.

Central geographical location in Europe

From a logistical point of view the Winterthur site is

in an ideal position: Zurich's international airport is

only 20 minutes away by car, and the outstanding

road and railway system ensures optimal accessibility.

For these reasons one of Europe’s largest grinding

wheel stock has been placed in Winterthur. Grinding

wheel blanks stored in Winterthur are machined and

profiled within a very short lead time, and then

shipped at short notice to wherever customers'

factories may be.

Product range

Winterthur's product range encompasses, among

others, grinding wheels made of conventional

abrasives as well as super abrasives such as diamond

and CBN for the following fields of application:

• OD, ID cylindrical and centerless grinding

• Surface, profile and creep-feed grinding

• Gear grinding

• Thread and worm grinding

• Tool grinding

SITE SWITZERLAND

SWITZERLAND

WST Winterthur Schleiftechnik AG is second to none in terms of grinding

wheels for high precision finishing. The company looks back on a long

tradition of innovation, and maintains a strong international position in the

automotive, gas turbine and jet engine industries.

Europe’s largest producer of abrasive grain is a

direct neighbour of the site, thus facilitating and

ensuring close technological collaboration. 350

employees produce approximately 5000 tons of

technically sophisticated grinding wheels per year.

The production programme of the Villach plant

includes vitrified precision grinding wheels up to

diameter 1100 mm and cut-off wheels up to a

maximum diameter of 2000 mm. A wide range of

resin bonded grinding wheels as well as super

abrasives in resin, vitrified and electro-plated bonds

are also produced there.

The pressing department operates numerous

hydraulic presses with state-of-the-art automatic

handling and control systems. The performance

ranges from 20 to 5000 tons. Two tunnel kilns and

numerous electrical as well as gas heated periodic

kilns allow for a wide range of sintering profiles and

kiln atmospheres. Final machining of the grinding

wheels is based on state-of-the-art CNC machining

centres.

AUSTRIA

The Winterthur Technology Group’s Austrian plant in Villach is located right

in the heart of Europe with direct access to international motorways.

Today’s Rappold Winterthur Technologie GmbH originates from

Rappold Schleifmittel Industrie, which goes back to 1876.

Research and Development:

The Austrian entity, Rappold Winterthur Technologie GmbH,

operates a well equipped ceramic laboratory with a

highly qualified R & D team. Examples for recent

R & D awards are the vitrified high-performance

series NanoWin®, re-useable large cut-off wheels

Raposteel® and the super abrasive product series

Coolgrind® with internal cooling, a joint development

with the inventor G. Schrottner.

SITE VILLACH

With over 30 000 m2 production area, the plant is

well suited to produce sophisticated grinding wheels

for demanding customers.

Hot pressed grinding wheels in sizes up to diameter

915 mm are produced for the grinding of slabs,

billets and blooms in the steel industry. The Västervik

plant has the biggest capacity world wide for these

steel conditioning products.

For precision grinding, the Västervik plant produces

vitrified and resin bonded grinding wheels in sizes

Located on the Swedish east coast about 300 km south of Stockholm in

the beautiful seaside town Västervik, you will find one of the most modern

production facilities for large grinding wheels in Europe, SlipNaxos AB.

SWEDEN

up to diameter 1100 mm. These wheels are used

for many different purposes such as crank- and

camshaft grinding, roll grinding as well as grinding

of bearing parts. In an up to date production unit

customized products of the highest quality are

produced to meet the customers' high expectations.

In the Super Abrasives department diamond and

CBN grains are used together with the latest bonding

systems to produce highly sophisticated closed rim

grinding wheels in sizes up to diameter 610 mm.

SITE VÄSTERVIK

For many reasons grinding of automotive gear flanks

is gaining increasingly in importance. In the past,

only high end cars had their gears ground. This was

due to the fact that in 1980 the manufacturing cycle

time for grinding an individual gear was more than 10

minutes. The combination of advanced machine tool

technology and modern abrasives led to ever shorter

cycle times, and the existing alternative manufacturing

methods such as shaving and honing could be

increasingly replaced by grinding. Today, grinding

machine tools in conjunction with high performance

grinding wheels achieve cycle times of less than 30

seconds per automotive gear, and this at much higher

quality levels. There are also ecological and economical

reasons as to why gears are being ground. Increasing

demand stipulates ever lighter components that

feature lower friction such that fuel consumption and

noise generation can be further reduced. Lighter gear

parts that create less friction and less noise can only

be achieved if the accuracy of the gear flanks is

increased. Higher accuracy, however, calls for a

grinding process. Today’s car owners have clear

demand on the noise level they are willing to accept

in their vehicles so they can enjoy the potential

quality of their high end car music systems. Ground

gears have specific surface structures that counteract

noise generation and which, therefore, can offer a

high level of acoustic comfort. Winterthur wheels are

the clear choice for these applications.

The automotive industry is not the only field where

gears are used. Gears function as key elements in

many drive systems and are found in many technical

areas such as ship building, railways, steel works and

wind generator plants, to name but a few. When

laypeople look at a giant wind generator they often

only observe the giant rotor blades and are unaware

of the large and complex gear drive systems hidden

behind the generator’s housing. The gears of such

drives must be able to take up very high loads, run

smoothly without too much loss in friction, and they

need to have a very long operational life. All these

demanding properties can only be achieved by precision

grinding the gear flanks. For these reasons, grinding

as the key manufacturing process is indispensable

and secures Winterthur Technology Group as manu-

facturer of high precision grinding wheels a challenge

to enthuse customers.

GEAR GRINDING

Creep-feed grinding is still gaining in importance as

a manufacturing process for complex components.

Particularly the aerospace and gas turbine industries

use increasingly more difficult-to-machine materials.

Their mechanical and heat resistance are improved

by sophisticated properties of special alloys. This

has a direct bearing on the machinability, and often

creep-feed grinding is the only method to manufacture

those components in a cost-effective way. Creep-

feed grinding is a process by which deep cuts remove

considerable amounts of material with each cutting

pass to achieve an overall economy. These deep

cuts per pass result in large contact areas on the

workpieces, thereby increasing friction and the risk

of burning. Winterthur Technology Group faces

considerable challenges to produce grinding wheel

structures with high artificial porosity to counteract

those risks. High induced grinding wheel porosity

reduces the contact area and friction and allows the

application of large amounts of coolant fluids to

avoid that the components suffer in either quality or

reduction of useful life. This is not only indispensable

in aerospace applications but also applies to gas

turbine blades, automotive steering systems, industrial

cutting tools and high resistance ceramic compo-

nents, to name but a few.

Winterthur Technology group is one of the pioneers

of creep-feed technology and enjoys a solid position

in the creep-feed market. As technology will continue

to produce and demand materials of high resistance,

creep-feed grinding will play a dominant role as a

manufacturing process in the future.

CREEP-FEED

GRINDING

APPLICATION FOCUS

BEARING INDUSTRY

Bearings are central components in modern trans-

portation systems. The bearing industry meets the

increasing demands regarding reliability and accuracy

by continuous improvements in quality and production

techniques.

For many years the Winterthur Technology Group

has been a close partner to the bearing industry and

has been actively taking part in many productivity

improvements.

Being in the front line of bond system developments

for the maximum utilisation of modern abrasives,

Winterthur Technology Group supports its customers

with cost efficient products which in turn generate

increased productivity.

The bearing industry is heavily dependent on

grinding processes and incorporates most types of

grinding operations. Each bearing producer has

different strategies and production methods, which

lead to individual requirements.

The Winterthur Technology Group is a global supplier

of abrasives and possesses wide experience and

know-how to meet the different customer demands

and to adapt to their unique process conditions. The

choice of products is always a result of communication

between Winterthur Technology Group and the end-

users’ engineers. The Group supplies the most

suitable product for each specific operation at high

and consistent quality. For the customer this results

in the most cost-efficient grinding operation.

For each operation there is a product based on con-

ventional abrasives but also an alternative solution

from the latest developments of ceramic or super

abrasives, such as cubic boron nitride (CBN) for the

most demanding operations, or diamond for advanced

ceramic bearing components. The Group’s high-end

products are among the leading abrasive tools on

the market and Winterthur Technology is already

developing the products for the customer’s future

improvements.

Winterthur Technology Group also offers a range of

knowledge based services such as the “NaxoTech”

analysing equipment for recording real time conditions

to support improvements of grinding operations.

The “Optima” computer-assisted programme is used

to pre-calculate settings and machining parameters

for best utilisation of grinding wheels.

The Winterthur Technology Group is proud of having

the products and the experience to offer a first-class

service to the bearing industry.

The field of tool and cutter grinding is more complex

than one would imagine at first glance. A great

variety of materials with very different properties

have to be ground, including tool steel, HSS, stellite,

tungsten carbide, cermets, ceramics, PCBN, PCD

and CVD. Different grinding processes are used,

including, among others, peel grinding, cylindrical

grinding, surface grinding, face grinding and creep-

feed grinding.

Today, most machine tools are 5-axis CNC grinding

centres which allow the grinding of very complex

profiles. Palette loaders are widely used in high

volume production runs, which means that high

process stability is an absolute must.

Cutting tool manufacturers and re-sharpening service

providers demand grinding wheels which feature a

long tool life and create only low grinding pressures.

The tolerance band for cutting tools is becoming

ever narrower, the demands on surface finish ever

higher, and cutting edges must be ever sharper and

free of any notches. Thermal damage to the cutting

tool must also be completely avoided. All of these

demands go hand in hand with continuously shorter

manufacturing cycles and lower process costs.

To meet these demands, the Winterthur Technology

Group has introduced a number of high quality inno-

vations. Bond compositions of CBN and diamond

wheels have been redesigned and improved, whether

for vitrified, resin, metal, hybrid or electro-plated

bond systems. For thermically critical applications

an internal cooling system “Coolgrind” has been

developed jointly with an engineering consultant.

The new wheel can be supplied in all types of

bonds.

The Winterthur Technology Group supplies abrasive

tools for grinding milling cutters, drills, turning tools,

taps, carbide inserts, profile inserts, PCBN and PCD

tools, saws and woodworking tools, including all

dressing tools and sticks.

Application engineers are at customers disposal to

offer solutions in their workshop or factory.

TOOL GRINDING

Tool grinding wheels are another main product line to be supplied

specifically to the cutting tool industry.

Many applications can be covered with wheels from our existing stocks.

APPLICATION FOCUS

Due to the Winterthur Technology Group’s close

cooperation with all major cutting-off machine tool

manufacturers and end-users, the technology of

abrasive cutting-off could be further developed and

improved over the last years. Today, abrasive cutting-off

represents an economically very interesting alternative

to metal blade sawing and shearing, clearly resulting in

an improved quality of cut.

Winterthur Technology Group’s Rapoflex® state-of-the-

art brand offers a well adapted product, ranging in

diameter from 20 to 2000 mm, thereby covering all

standard and customer specific cutting-off applications.

Rapoflex® cut-off wheels are produced as a multi-layer

composite system by an efficient manufacturing

process. Alternate layers of abrasive mix and glass

fibre fabrics are pressed to a homogenous composite

on Europe’s largest press for abrasive products. The

wheels are then cured in special dryers at an average

temperature of 180°C. Continuous research and

development activities offer customers individual

solutions for specific applications, leading to a reduction

of total costs of the cutting process.

Innovations include Raposteel® wheels with steel

centres that allow recycling. Raposteel® has proved to

be a very economic substitution technology to metal

saw blades, reducing the need for additional machining

processes, in conjunction with a substantial reduction

of the noise level in the cutting process.

Raposteel Light® are mechanically reinforced large

diameter wheels which give the highest cutting

performance resulting in a top quality of cut. The

wheel design allows particularly high-speed and thin

cuts producing a minimum of waste.

CUT-OFF WHEELSCONDITIONING OF SLABS AND BILLETS

IN STEEL PLANTS

This very demanding operation is performed on special

machines equipped with very hard grinding wheels.

These wheels are pressed in a hot condition, which

practically eliminates all porosity and results in

extremely hard wheels (HP).

The Winterthur Technology Group operates a plant

in Västervik, Sweden, which has the world’s highest

production capacity for this type of hot pressed

wheels. The production is state-of-the-art with a very

high degree of efficiency. No efforts are spared to

ensure the consistently high quality of the products.

As the wheels are running at an operating speed of

80 m/s, each and every wheel is subjected to a

stringent safety test to ensure the highest possible

protection and safety for the end-user. All test and

production data are monitored, making it possible to

check each wheel’s relevant data years after delivery.

The abrasives mainly used are zirconium corundum

and sintered bauxite. Zirconium is used for grinding

carbon and alloyed steel, whereas sintered bauxite

is used for grinding stainless steel. The range of grit

sizes used varies from sizes #6 to #36.

There is a variety of bond systems of different

hardness and heat resistance, making it possible to

produce customised wheels for practically any

operation.

SlipNaxos is leading the innovation in the field of

hot-pressed wheels. The high performance of the

new INAX range has gained an impressive market

position. Close cooperation with manufacturers of

automatic billet and slab grinders results in continuous

improvements of the process to the point where

even the conditioning of carbon steel has become

an economically interesting process.

The Winterthur Technology Group also offers a high-

tech support service, using the “NaxoTech” grinding

process analyser to optimise machine settings and

calculating the most cost-efficient way to run a

given grinding operation.

The Group is represented across the globe in all major

steel markets offering customers close and technically

superior support. The Winterthur Technology Group

is proud of having revolutionised the steel conditioning

process by introducing hot grinding at 900 °C.

Production of high-alloy and stainless steels demands an excellent

surface finish. For this reason, slabs, blooms and billets are ground

prior to rolling to ensure the complete removal of cracks and surface

defects.

Abrasive cutting-off is a high performance cutting

process for a wide variety of steel producing and

processing industries.

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