Diamond grinding of silicon nitride ceramic
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abstract
Diamond grinding of hot pressed silicon nitride (HPSN) ceramic material is the main focus of this paper. The object of this work is to achieve high overall removal rates while at the same time providing high strength in the final ground product. Grinding wheels with different diamond grit sizes have been explored. Results reported include surface characterization of the ground surface, transverse rupture strength data, and grinding flaw detection results. Key findings are: All finish ground surfaces showed surface damage (pitting) over the range of wheel grit sizes employed (5.1 to 249 microns). For longitudinal ground test bars, there is no apparent loss of strength as the grit depth of cut increases for the range investigated (0.085 to 0.281 microns). For transversely ground test bars, there is a decrease in strength as the grit depth of cut increases beyond a critical value. For diamond grinding for HPSN ceramic this critical value appears to be about 0.160 microns.
