Performance of Diamond and Silicon Carbide Wheels on Grinding of Bioceramic Material Under Minimum Quantity Lubrication Condition

Abstract

Advanced ceramic materials like sintered and presintered zirconia are frequently used in biomedical applications, where minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) assisted grinding is required to achieve a good surface finish instead of conventional flood coolant. However, insufficient cooling and wheel clogging are the major problems that exist in the MQL grinding process, which depends upon the type of work piece material and the grinding wheel being used. The present study is to determine the performance of the grinding wheels on presintered zirconia under MQL conditions in terms of grinding forces, specific energy, surface integrity, and wheel wear. Experiments are conducted with two different types of grinding wheels as silicon carbide (SiC) and diamond grinding wheels under the same condition. The results indicated that the diamond wheel provided a better surface finish and reduced tangential force under MQL condition, compared to the conventional SIC wheel. This was due to the reduction of wheel loading in the diamond grinding wheel. The specific energy of diamond grinding wheel was reduced with higher material removal rate compared to the conventional SiC wheel. The ground surfaces generated by the diamond grinding wheel showed fine grinding marks with better surface finish. The percentage of G-ratio calculated for the diamond wheel was higher than the SiC wheel by 77%. This was due to the sliding of the grains and less wheel loading in the diamond wheel. The cost difference between the corresponding wheels was discussed to improve the productivity of the grinding process.