Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60

Surface characteristics in the ultrasonic ductile honing

of ZrO2 ceramics using coarse grits
Zhao Boa,b,*, Liu Chuanshaoa, Gao Guofua, Jiao Fenga
a
Mechanical Department, Jiaozuo Institute of Technology, Henan 454159, China
b
Mechanical Department, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200030, China
Received 13 February 2001

Abstract

Experimental research into the surface characteristics in the ultrasonic ductile-regime honing of ZrO2 engineering ceramics with a new-
type ultrasonic honing machine was carried out. When the results are compared with those for common honing ®ve characteristics are clear:
(1) with the same cutting depth, the grooves scored in ultrasonic grinding are shallower; (2) the width at the bottom of the grooves is greater
than that of common honing and close to the amplitude of the ultrasonic wave; (3) fracture and pits on the ultrasonically honed surface are
shallower and peel off as layers, while those on the common honed surface exhibit chap abscission; (4) on the ultrasonically honed surface
fracture mostly occurs on the boundary of the grooves and in even wide grooves fracture is much less extensive, whilst on the other hand, in
common honing, at the bottom of the grooves a greater number of fractures were observed as well as on the boundary; (5) on the ground
surface of ZrO2, for both methods, little chap cracking is visible, not as for a Si3N4 workpiece. Cracking under common honing is more than
that of ultrasonic honing. At the fringe of the damage area for ultrasonic honing an extensive crack due to exceptional trans-crystalline rupture
was found occasionally. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Engineering ceramics; Course grits; Ultrasonic honing; Longitudinal vibration; Ductile cutting

1. Introduction honing head, making use of the theory of local resonance

Research on the common ductile honing of engineering
ceramic has been reported in some papers [1±5], where ®ne
grits were employed. Japanese scholars have carried out
studies of highly ef®cient ductile cutting using a coarse-grit
diamond wheel and a minute feed, the surface characteristics
being improved [6,7]. For other machining methods it has
not been reported whether the ef®ciency of ductile-regime
honing is high or not, especially in respect of adding ultrasonic
waves. In this paper, tests involving the force characteristics,
temperature characteristics, grinding characteristics, surface
characteristics and characteristics from frangibility to ducti-
lity, were carried out with #80 and #140 coarse grits.
2. Test condition and methods
2.1. Test conditions
The tests were carried out using a self-designed CSW-1
honing machine with f70±75 mm ultrasonic coarse-grit
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Mechanical Department,
Jiaozuo Institute of Technology, Henan 454159, China.
E-mail address: zhaob@jzit.edu.cn (Z. Bo).
[8,9]. The dressing process undertaken on a M1432W cylind-
rical grinding machine with a self-made dressing tool. The
dressing conditions and the experimental material are shown in
Table 1. Ultrasonic generator runs with automatic frequency
tracking and amplitude displaying. The power is 300 W.
2.2. Theory of testing
A block diagram of the testing system is shown in Fig. 1.
The tests involve the measurement of: (i) the ultrasonic
amplitude and frequency; (ii) honing force; (iii) the tem-
perature of the honing area and ultrasonic system.
In the measurement of the ultrasonic amplitude and fre-
quency, an ultrasonic generator inputs high-frequency elec-
trical signals to a frequency meter for display, as well as to a
piezoelectric crystal transducer to transform into mechanical
vibration signals, which then drive a rod-like amplitude
transformer to attain the designed amplitude. The ampli®ed
signals are then transmitted via a vibrated disc and ¯exible
levers to make the oilstones vibrate. The amplitude of the
front end of the oilstones, is measured using a B&K 8309
high-frequency acceleration sensor, amplitude signals are
being transmitted to B&K charge ampli®er, where they are
submitted to a data collector, where they are ®ltered and

0924-0136/02/$ ± see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 4 1 - 9
 Z. Bo et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60 55

Table 1
Test conditions

Dressing wheel Resin-bonded SiC wheel #80, dimension Do  Di  B†: f203 mm  f120 mm  40 mm
Dressing condition Dressing wheel's speed: V s ˆ 28 m/s; spindle speed: n ˆ 37 rpm; worktable's reciprocating speed: V T ˆ 600 mm/min
Workpiece ZrO2 (hot isostatic pressing): Do  Di  B: f89 mm  f74 mm  24 90 mm
Al2O3 (hot pressing): Do  Di  B: f94 mm  f70 mm  41:5 mm
Diamond oilstone Size: #80, #140; bronze-bonded oilstone; concentration: 100%; dimension L  B  H†: 100 mm  12 mm  12 mm;
100 mm  12 mm  10 mm
Honing parameter Spindle speed: n ˆ 75 290 rpm; honing head's travel speed: V ˆ 1:26, 8 m/min; cutting depth: ap ˆ 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12 mm/
reciprocation
Cooling style Dry grinding

integrated. Finally, at the end the signals are sent to a computer
to analyze the actual amplitude and frequency of the oilstone.
In the measurement of the honing force, dynamic strain
gauges save the force signals on a SQ16A oscillograph and a
multi-channel function recorder. One resistance strain sen-
sor is set on the bottom of the oilstones' seat, another on the
side surface of the supporting pin, the side of which is cut
¯at, whilst another is on the side face of the oilstones. In
order to measure accurately the honing force in three
directions, cut-in grinding (zero reciprocating speed) and
honing were carried out with each parameter. Using two
ways to measure, respectively, the tangential loads on
diamond oilstones and the normal loads on the pins (the
average of two ends), the forces of different parameters were
calculated in the three directions.
For the temperature measurement of the ultrasonic honing
system and the grinding area, a temperature ®eld measure-
ment was made of the honing head, of the joint between
oilstones' seat and the ¯exible poles, of the node of the
amplitude transformer, of re¯ex housing of the transducer
and of the bottom of the ultrasonic generator where the
reactor is placed. A 10-channel digital thermoscope was
employed to display the temperature values. A standard Pt
and Rh±Pt arti®cial thermocouple was placed on the work-
piece and oilstone to measure the temperature of the grind-
ing area. The signals, ®ltered and ampli®ed, were recorded
using a B&K type two-channel function gauge and inspected
by use of an XWD strip chart auto-balancing recorder.
2.3. Test methods
The comparative experiment was used to determine the
different characteristics of ductile-regime ultrasonic honing
as compared with using coarse-grit diamond oilstones. The
roughness of the honed surface was measured by a JJ1-B
stylus surfagauge along the direction of vertical cutting, the
average value is attained from six points located on the circle
of each surface. The surface roundness is the maximum of
®ve cross-sections obtained using Taylor roundness measur-
ing equipment and a micrometer. With a strain gauge the
maximum is adopted in the cutting force measuring because
the honing head's movement in¯uences the ¯uctuating force
signals. SEM photographs are employed to determine the
ductile mode cutting characteristics of the surfaces, ground

Fig. 1. Block diagram of the testing system for ultrasonic honing.

56 Z. Bo et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60

with different parameters, to ensure their reality. Each sur-
face was tested for 1 mm cutting depth and cutting-feed
honing, 14 reciprocal times in succession for 5 min.
3. Analyses of the test results
Typical SEM photographs of common-ground surfaces
under different speeds are shown in Fig. 2. For the same
conditions, the results for oil-free ultrasonically honed sur-
faces are shown in Fig. 3. The power of ultrasonic generator is
P ˆ 100 W and the amplitude is between 12 and 15 mm.
Comparing Fig. 2 with Fig. 3, it is clear that with the same
cutting depth the common ground surfaces were very dif-
ferent from those from ultrasonic honing, in ®ve respects:
1. With the same cutting depth, the grooves cut by ultrasonic
grains are shallower than those for common grinding.
The shallower grooves explain that the oilstones'
axial vibration makes the grains' actual cut-in depth
smaller (while the radial vibration made the cut-in
depth deeper than that of common grinding). A smaller
cut-in depth involves a smaller honing force. Further-
more, the action whereby ultrasonic grains cut into
the workpiece is dynamic. It was reported that the
dynamic crack plasticity of hard brittle material is just
20% of the static crack plasticity under impact loads.
Therefore with the same cut-in depth, the dynamic
force is just one-fifth of the static force [10]. Thus, with
the same honing force as for common honing, the wipe-
off efficiency is higher. On the other hand, a smaller
honing force and cut-in depth require a better rigidity of
the ultrasonic machining system, but result in better
surface quality.
2. The width at the bottom of the grooves is greater than
that for common honing and is close to the amplitude of
the ultrasonic wave.
Typical SEM photographs of the width of bottom of
the grooves are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 under two kinds
of methods.

Fig. 2. SEM photographs of common honing with #140 oilstones under a set cutting depth and different honing speeds: (a) n ˆ 60 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm;
(b) n ˆ 75 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm; (c) n ˆ 118 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm; (d) n ˆ 150 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm.
 Z. Bo et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60 57

Fig. 3. SEM photographs of ultrasonic honing with #140 oilstones under a set cutting depth and different honing speeds: (a) n ˆ 60 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm;
(b) n ˆ 75 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm; (c) n ˆ 118 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm; (d) n ˆ 150 rpm, ap ˆ 6 mm.

Fig. 4. SEM photographs of the bottom of an ultrasonic honing furrow: (a) n ˆ 75 rpm, ap ˆ 3 mm, V f ˆ 1:26 m/min, F ˆ 19:667 kHz, P ˆ 100 W,
A ˆ 12 mm; (b) n ˆ 118 rpm, ap ˆ 9 mm, V f ˆ 1:26 m/min, F ˆ 19:667 kHz, P ˆ 100 W, A ˆ 12 mm.
58 Z. Bo et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60
Fig. 5. SEM photographs of the bottom of a common honing furrow: (a) n ˆ 75 rpm, ap ˆ 9 mm, V f ˆ 1:26 m/min; (b) n ˆ 75 rpm, ap ˆ 9 mm,
V f ˆ 1:26 m/min.
It is observed clearly that there are many minute
grooves at the bottom of each groove in Figs. 4 and 5.
The width of the minute grooves was close to the
average width of the grits' cut-in part.
The difference of the two kinds of bottom explains the
instantaneous contacting state of the grains' action on
the workpiece. It is clear that the common honing grits
cut the workpiece within three surfaces according to the
deep narrow furrow. Therefore a greater friction force is
involved in the greater cutting force and the higher
temperature of the cutting area. While machining hard
brittle materials, with the same cutting depth the greater
honing force causes more micro-fractures and bigger
cracks on the ground surface, and make the strength of
the ground surface decrease. At the same time, the
higher temperature involved from the greater friction
force make the internal micro-phase-change when it
reaches the workpiece's phase-change value. Different
expansion occurs on the crystal boundary because the
specific volume of different crystal phases is different,
which involves a greater stress on the crystal boundary.
When the stress exceeds the rupture strength, trans-
crystalline rupture and inter-crystalline cracking cause
the surface of the workpiece to become very poor [10].
Fig. 2 also shows that the cracking area of the common
ground surface is greater. Furthermore, when the
temperature of the grinding area becomes greater, the
severe wear and tear of the softened diamond grits cause
a higher friction force as well as a lower cutting
efficiency. It is one of the important reasons why the
material wipe-off ratio of common honing is so much
lower. The ultrasonic grains cut into the workpiece with
almost a single surface (the front cutting face). A
marked fall of the friction force makes the cutting forces
decrease greatly, and improves the heat radiation of the
working grits. The long-time sharpness of the cutting
grits and material's higher wipe-off ratio benefit from
the temperature drop of the grinding area. Especially,
with the same cutting depth as in common honing, a
smaller honing force and a lower temperature cause the
workpiece's internal micro-fracturing and break-up on
the ground surface to decrease greatly. Therefore the
quality of the ground surface and the strength of the
workpiece are improved greatly.
3. The fracture performance of ultrasonic honing and
common honing is different: break-ups and pits on the
ultrasonically honed surface are shallower and separated
as layers (Fig. 4), whilst those on the common ground
surface are rimous wipe-off (Fig. 5), and there are
irregular micro-steps around the pits. From the view-
point of cutting force, the axial ultrasonic function on
the oilstones changes the resultant direction of the
cutting forces (to the grinding surface). The local
plasticity under ultrasonic of the material condition
reduces normal cutting force at the same cutting depth,
as compared with common honing. The different
machining style causes different material cleavage
fracture. To view this clearly, SEM photographs of
surface fracture are shown in Fig. 6 under the two kinds
of machining methods, and demonstrates that cleavage
fracture occurs because common grinding produces
greater cutting force. When cleavage fracture, i.e. the
most brittle fracture style, comes into being, it expands
mostly along the crystal boundary. When it crosses the
crystal boundary, the fracture is obstructed by the
elasticized particles, and then it proceeds in a new
direction. Therefore many cleavage steps form. The
steps are usually parallel to the fracture-expanding
direction and vertical to the fracture surface, because it
forms the least free surface, which needs the least
energy. From the point of pits and fracture for the
commonly ground workpiece in Fig. 6(b), fracture
 Z. Bo et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60 59

Fig. 6. Typical chip shape of layered-tablets breaking-off and turtle fractures in ultrasonic and common honing: (a) the spalling of layered tablets; (b) turtle
pits in common honing; (c) the layered-tablets chip shape of ultrasonic honing; (d) the turtle-fracture chip shape of common honing.

occurs on the top of the pits, extends to the internal
parts, and then proceeds upwards to the surface after
reaching a certain depth. Then it forms chips, and turtle-
like pits, with an irregular crack and a fracture-brim
appearing on the surface of the workpiece.
Of the ultrasonic cracks and chips in Fig. 6(a),
layered-tablet chips are dominant, which may involved
trans-crystalline cleavage. Because of the smaller cutting
force, some crystal layers on the ultrasonically honed
surface developed to form layered-tablet chips. At the
same time, the grits, also vibrating vertically to the
cutting direction, impact the brim of the grooves and
accelerate the trans-crystalline fracture. On the other
hand, the occurrence of the cleavage fracture style could
not be defined absolutely by the machining methods.
Deeper cleavage fracture was observed on a ultrasoni-
cally honed surface when the cutting depth became
greater.
4. On the ultrasonically honed surface, fracture mostly
appears at the bulge of conjointed grooves, whilst in the
wide even grooves break-ups are very few. On the other
hand, in the common grinding of the boundary and the
bottom of the grooves, large numbers of break-ups are
found. The former results from the higher frequent
impacts on the brim of the ploughed grooves; while the
latter results from the greater honing force.
5. On the ground surface for both ultrasonic and common
honing, a great deal of rimous fracture is barely visible,
not as in the case of the grinding of an Si3N4 workpiece.
The cracking of common grinding is greater than that of
ultrasonic honing. At the fringe of the damage area
caused by ultrasonic honing, extension cracks due to
individual trans-crystalline fracture are found occasion-
ally. The ZrO2 workpiece is toughened by MgO
particles, which absorb the stress due to surface fracture,
and the dislocation is impeded on the crystal boundary.
Thus trans-crystalline fracture and inter-crystalline
fracture decrease. All of these benefit the stronger-
ground workpiece. On the other hand, because of the
smaller cutting force than in common grinding, ductile-
regime honing involves fewer surface fractures. There-
fore with ultrasonic honing, lower surface roughness can
60 Z. Bo et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 54±60
be attained, and the strength reduction of the ground
material is reduced greatly.
4. Conclusions
It is concluded that when employing ultrasonic honing on
engineering ZrO2 ceramics, the ground surface has ®ve
different characteristics from those of a commonly ground
workpiece. These involve different cutting mechanisms.
Local softening and a smaller cutting force make the plastic
¯ow of the material occur easily, and the cutting depth to
reduce, and layer-tablets chips come into being. At the same
time, the vibrating function involves wider grooves, of
which the width is very close to the amplitude of the
ultrasonic waves.
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