Abstract

WHY ? Grinding is, at best, an inefficient cutting process. In general, effective grinding depends on using free cutting wheels - wheels properly graded and preconditioned beforehand and then maintained in-process in a working condition. This is especially true for ductile regime grinding of engineering ceramics. To avoid surface fracture or markings, the 1 to 8 micrometer diamond grit wheels must be kept unloaded with swarf, running true within one to two tenths of a micrometer, and worked using "sharp" diamond grits. Insuring a free cutting wheel from either a choice of wheel grade or the usage of conventional dressing practice is difficult with resinoid wheels and unworkable with metal bonds - bronzes and steels. For ductile regime grinding of glass and especially engineering ceramics - Reaction Bonded SiC, Chemical Vapor Deposited SiC and silicon nitride, we use 2 to 10 um diamond grit, and increasingly rely on electrochemical machined (ECM) metal bonded wheels.

© 1994 Optical Society of America