Study on wear of diamond wheel in ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding ceramic

The ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding method has been widely used as a cost-effective machining method for hard and brittle materials. It is generally known that the ultrasonic vibration during grinding procedure causes the micro-fracture of the workpiece, which can improve grinding efficiency and provide better surface integrity. On the other hand, the ultrasonic vibration also acts on the diamond wheel surface, affecting its wear during the grinding process. In this study, the alumina ceramic was ground with and without the ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding ceramic to investigate the wear characteristics of the diamond wheel. The changes of the diamond wheel surface topography were captured and the grinding forces were measured during the grinding process. Based on the analysis of the experimental data, it was found that the ultrasonic vibration caused great wear but at the same time improved the self-sharpening property of the diamond wheel. One can also found that as the ultrasonic vibration on the diamond grits produce micro cutting edge the diamond wheel work surface was steady kept sharpness during ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding, and the grinding force and force ratio did not increase with the increasing of cumulative material removal volume. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.