Wear Behavior of Grain Cutting Edge in Ultrasonic Assisted Grinding Using Mini-Size Wheel

Abstract

This paper deals with the wear behavior of the mini-size diamond wheel used in Ultrasonic Assisted Grinding (UAG). The aim is to understand the wheel wear behavior. Sequential changes of the surface topography of the mini-size wheel, such as the number and shape of grains of the cutting edge, during the on-surface UAG process were observed and evaluated quantitatively using a Scanning Electron Microscope with four electron probes (3D-SEM). The obtained results show that a good wheel surface is maintained during the UAG process compared with the Conventional Grinding (CG) process. In particular, a number of sharp grain cutting edges are larger in the UAG process than those of the CG process. Additionally, these results are closely related to the stability of grinding forces and the reduction of the finished workpiece surface.