Experiment and Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics Simulation for the Wear Characteristics of Single Diamond Grit Scratching on Sapphire

Abstract

Abrasive single crystal diamond (SCD) grit is widely used in the machining process of sapphire. The wear of SCD grit has a significant influence on the surface quality of sapphire. In this paper, smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is employed to reveal the wear mechanism of SCD grit with Steinberg constitutive equation and Grüneisen state equation. The wear morphology, wear volume and scratching forces are measured and analyzed by combination of SPH simulations and experiments. The results show that the scratching forces fluctuate in a certain range and decrease with the increasing of workpiece material removal volume. Different degrees of cleavage and fracture appear in the front and rear of SCD grit. The shear stress and extrusion stress are the main stresses of SCD grit during the scratching process. The wear progress and wear form are mainly determined by the stress state. Different stress state leads to different wear progress of the SCD grit. The SPH method is able to reflect and illustrate the wear characteristics of SCD grit scratching on sapphire.