Chip Formation Energy in Grinding, Honing and Superfinishing of Ceramics

Abstract

The chip formation energy, which is consumed only to make chips by brittle fracture in grinding, honing and superfinishing, is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The following model is assumed that the surface of the work material consists of grains in shape of a cube and the brittle fracture takes place at the grain boundary. Work materials used in experiments are Al₂O₃, SiC and Si₃N₄ which are sintered under atmospheric pressure, and SiO₂. The scratching test is also carried out in order to obtain the chip formation energy of ceramic materials, and the strong relation is observed between the chip formation energy and the energy release rate of the ceramic. The chip formation energy obtained from experiments are compared with that from the scratching test.