Internal grinding of zirconia capillaries using a diamond taper wire

Abstract

        A zirconia capillary is a key component of an optical fiber connector. Center holes of zirconia capillaries have been conventionally finished in loose abrasive process using a long taper wire. In this process both the productivity and the defect rate were very low. In order to overcome the problems, internal grinding utilizing an electroplated diamond taper wire was attempted. In the condition that the grain depth of cut was large, the diamond grains were stuck to the workpiece and the diamond wire was easily twisted off. Then low-frequency vibration was added to the workpiece and continuous grinding was stably enabled when the amplitude of the vibration exceeded 3 mm. At the same time the length of a taper section was clarified to be important and a taper section longer than 60 mm was desirable. Continuous grinding over 60 pieces was accomplished with high throughput within 30 seconds. [This abstract is not included in the PDF]