3. Free abrasives

Working with free abrasives is any material removal operation performed by abrasive grains that are not bonded to a support, whether this support is a surface (coated abrasives) or a solid volume (grinding wheels). The abrasive action of free grains on the workpiece is exerted under the effect of pressure, in the case of lapping and polishing, or by impact, in the case of sandblasting and shot blasting (article Mechanical polishing [M 1 495] in the treatise Metallic materials).

All the abrasives listed at 2