Journal of

Materials
Processing
Technology
ELSEVIER Journal of Materials Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293

Ultrasonic Assisted Grinding of Ceramics *

Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Dr.-Ing. G. Spur, Dipl.-Ing. S.-E. Ho11

Institute for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technology, Technical University Berlin
Sekr. PTZ-1, PascalstrallJe 8-9, 10587 Berlin, Germany

Abstract

In order to improve the machining process of advanced ceramics grinding can be combined with ultrasonic vibra-
tions at high frequencies of about 22 kHz and low amplitudes between 4 and 15 pm. This report is dealing with in-
vestigations on ultrasonic assisted creep feed grinding of sintered silicon nitride and alumina. Based on the grinding
forces, surface roughness and radial wheel wear the grinding process with and without vibrations is analysed. More-
over the influence of the bonding and the table feed speed is shown at the example of SSN. Further on examinations on
ultrasonic assisted face grinding of alumina describe the influence of different process parameters on the available ma-
terial removal rate. Comparative observations are made, in order to show the potential of the present process modifi-
cations to improve the productivity during grinding of ceramics in relation to the conventional methods.

Keywords: Grinding, Ceramics, Ultrasonics

1. Introduction Compared to other ceramic machining methods,

grinding is used extensively because of high material
Since the ceramic components offer advantages in removal rates. As far as the complexity of the shape to
terms of improved performance and better efficiency, be machined, grinding has its own limitations. Hence, in
applications for ceramics in the automotive, aerospace, the past few years, ultrasonic maching is used as an im-
electrical and electronics industries have steadily grown portant and useful supplementary method for finishing
11-41. The physical and mechanical properties, such as advanced ceramics. However due to the relatively low
high hardness and strength at elevated temperatures, material removal rate and the insufficient machining
chemical stability, low friction and high wear resistance, accuracy, this method is of comparatively poor im-
make ceramics more attractive than other materials for portance for industrial ceramical applications. In this
many applications. To realize the potentials that cera- paper the mechanical energy from ultrasonics is combi-
mics can offer, suitable maching technologies have to be ned with that of grinding to achieve improved resultant
developed with cycle times that are competitive with me- outputs.
tal components. Before now by combining ultrasonic vibrations
with grinding of metals [5, 61, improved results were ob-
* The research work on Ultrasonic Assisted Grinding is carried out as tained. Dependent on the applied method here the su-
part of the “Industrielle Gemeinscbaftsforschung”, sponsored by funds of perposition of grinding with ultrasonics is carried out by
the “Bundesministerium fiir Wirtschaft”. The authors would like to thank vibrating the tool or the workpiece. Thus it is feasible to
the companies WINTER, CERASIV, EXERON and ULTRASCHALL- realize high material removal rates and reduced process
TECHNIK as well as the DEUTSCHE KEFtAMISCHE GESELLSCHAPT forces for machining ceramics.
(DKG) for supporting the investigations.

0924-0136/96/$15.00 0 1996 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

PI1 0924.0136(96)02422-3
288 G. Spur, S.-E. Hall/Journal of Materials Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293

workpiece

sonotrode
material: steel, C45
transformation: Tl

holder of oscillation unit

ultrasonic head
type: USK 1000, EXERON
input power: P = max. 2400 W
output amplitude: < = 3 - 5 urn
oscillator: piezoelectric ceramic
sonotrode connection: threaded bolt M 16

cable connection to ultrasonic generator

generator type: USG 1800, EXERON
output power: 600 - 1800 W
manual or automatic power control
working frequency: f = 22 * 0.8 kHz
frequency control: automatic modulation

table with dynamometer

type: 9257 A, KISTLER

Fig. 1: Device for ultrasonic vibration of the workpiece.

2. Experimental details vqd = 400 mmfmin and the depth of material removal
from the wheel was set at aed = 10 pm.
2.1 Creep feed grinding Subsequently the diamond wheels were dressed
(sharpened) under creep feed grinding conditions with
The first part of this paper deals with the surface corundum stick. The corundum stick was fed into the
grinding in creep feed mode. For the tests, a CNC sur- grinding wheels with a table feed speed of
face and profile grinder type HAUNI-BLOHM Profimat vfids = 60 mm/min. The wheel was rotating of a cutting
410 was utilized. A 4 % solution was used as a coolant. velocity of vcds = 20 m/s and the material removal of
To realize the ultrasonic assistance, an exciter as shown corundum stick per unit time during the pass was
in Fig. 1 with a sonotrode from EXERON Erodiertechno- Qlds = 2.5 mm3/mms.
logie GmbH was used.
The ceramic workpiece was glued on top of the so-
notrode. By means of the exciter, the ceramic workpiece
executes the vibration in normal (radial) direction. The 2.2 Face grinding
ultrasonic vibration was automatically controlled around
a frequency off = 22 kHz and the amplitude of vibration The face grinding tests were carried out with the
was held at 5 = 4 pm. The tests utilized Silicon Nitride schematic arrangement of a rotary head of type RSE
and Alumina. During each trial the grinding forces were 1000 from‘ EXERON which is shown in Fig. 2. This ro-
recorded with a KISTLER 3 component dynamometer, tary head was fitted on to the spindle of the machining
which was rigidly mounted on the worktable. system MA-US-l from MAFELL Ultrasonic GmbH. Ul-
The grinding wheels were trued (profiled) with a trasonic assisted face grinding was realized by the
hydraulically driven silicon carbide (Sic) grinding wheel axially vibration of rotary tool. Water was used for all
by maintaining the diamond tools at vcdP = 10 m/s and the tests as coolant. In order to supply the contact zone
the truing wheel at vR = 17.5 m/s in upcut mode. The in a sufficient way, the coolant and the chips were
traverse velocity of the truing wheel was sucked off through the hollow grinding tool.
 G. Spur, S.-E. Hall/Journal of Materials Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293 289

length of about 1, = 20 mm and a contact time of about

suction pipe
turning through-bearing
of the suction
drive unit
ball bearing
carbon strip/connection
ultrasonic generator
cable connection
shell of the sonic
upper end mass
piezo-ceramic
sonic converter
suction connection
tool holding
Fig. 2: Prototypical rotation head.
The generator has a regulator to coordinate auto-
matically the frequency of excitation for minimal power
requirement at frequencies off = 20 to 25 kHz. All expe-
riments were carried out by regulating the contact pres-
sure between the tool and workpiece, so that the mate-
rial removal rate can be calculated from operating time
and cross-section of the tool. Before the tests the tool
was sunk into a corundum stick for dressing with its
frontal area at a contact pressure of pPAD = 1 N/mm2, an
amplitude of 5 = 13 urn and a rotational speed of
n = 3000 min-I.
3. Results
3.1 Creep feed grinding - effects of vibration
For the fundamental creep feed grinding investi-
gations, a grinding wheel from WINTER with a diame-
ter of d, = 400 mm and a wheel specification of
D126 K+8821 JY GO, with highly friable grits and a
relatively weak resin bond was used. For conventional
grinding Fig. 3 shows analogous to UHLMANN [7], that
an increase in the amount of material removal results in
degressively increased process forces, both for Silicon
Nitride and Alumina. With ultrasonic vibrations the
normal force was found to be approximately 50 % less
(Fig. 3). It is to be noted that all the parameters were
kept the same for grinding with and without ultrasonic
vibrations.
With a wheel diameter d, = 400 mm, a depth of cut
a, = 1 mm and a wheel speed v, = 35 m/s, a contact
tk = 570 us results for creep feed grinding without ul-
trasonics. With ultrasonic assistance, at a frequency
f = 22 kHz, the workpiece is vibrating approximately
twelve times during contact with the grit. Due to the
sinusoidal motion of the workpiece, it is to be assumed
that the grits are not continuously in contact with the
to workpiece, so that the real contact time is reduced.
Idealized conditions leads to a reduction of about 50 %
(- 285 us). Hence an enormous reduction in frictional ef-
fects occurs resulting in reduced normal forces. On the
converter
supposition that the theoretical chip thickness in creep
feed grinding is about one decimal power lower than the
amplitude of ultrasonic vibration (5 = 4 urn), the real
contact time in creep feed grinding should additionally
be reduced. Due to the reduction of real contact time,
to tool thermal loading of the wheel decreases especially as the
fixture bond contacts more strongly with the coolant. Referring
to [8] this effect is assumed to have a lower impact on
grinding in pendulum mode than on creep feed grinding.
Because of the shorter contact length the reduction of
normal force during ultrasonic assisted pendulum grin-
ding will be probably not so dramatic. However it was
mentioned that a relatively hard resin bond was used in
the make-up of the wheel [8]. The bond of the tool in-
fluences enormously the resultant outputs at ultrasonic
assisted grinding, especially the wear mechanisms.
During grinding without ultrasonics the wheel
wear for increased material removal is determined by a
certain extent by flattening of the grits. Because of the
relatively weak bond used in the make-up of the wheel,
the flattened grits will be pulled out of the wheel rela-
tively easy, so that the grit projection early decreases
leading to increased normal forces. With ultrasonics, the
portion of grit splintering is assumed to be increased as
well as the portion of grit flattening decreases. Thus
more cutting edges become active and the grit pullout is
assumed to be reduced because of lower frictional effects
and thermal loading. Hence follows higher grit pro-
jection as well as reduced forces at same material remo-
val as observed in this case.
In spite of the obvious reduction in normal force, there is
only a little change in the wheel wear with the finished
surface to be rough (Fig. 4). With ultrasonics, the pulse
overlap has also influence on the surface formation and
wear behavior. Moreover the wheel wear due to increa-
sed microfracture is probably compensated by the smal-
ler portion of grit pullout and lower thermal loading.
Slightly higher roughness can probably be explained by
higher grain projection for the same material removal
rate and also probably due to less plastic deformation of
work surface. Currently, these assumed mechanisms are
being evaluated through microscopic investigations.
290 G. Spur, S.-E. Hall/Journal of Materiuls Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293

D126 K+8821 JY C50

solution 4 %; p = 5 bar
down-cut-grinding
a, = 1.0 mm
vfi = 300 mm/min CIW = 5 mm3/mms
ii-
2 60 60
E N
g-i-
3 mm mm
E
% 36 36
ii
u
5 24 24
z
E
5 12 12
u
2
s 0 0
E 0 300 600 mm3/mm 1200 0 300 600 mm3/mm 1200
related material removal V;,

Fig. 3: Related normal and tangential forces for creep feed grinding of Al,O, and SSN with and without ultrasonics.

vft = 300 mm/min Q’ w = 5 mm”/mms

I 10

6 I I I I I 01
16
4 4
2 2
0 0
4 4
v-n Pm
2 2
1 I
0 0
0 350 700 mm3/mm 1400 0 350 700 mm3/mm 1400
related material removal V;

Fig. 4: Surface finish and radial wheel wear for creep feed grinding of Al,O, and SSN with and without ultrasonics.
 G. Spur, S.-E. Hall/Journal of Materials Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293 291

3.2 Creep feed grinding - influence of the bond
Fig. 5 shows the behaviour of the normal and tan-
gential forces dependent on the bonding sytem used in
the make-up of the wheel at a related material removal
of V’w = 1175 mm3/mm. Referring to [9], a hard, brittle
and wear-resisting bronze bond with relatively blocky
grits (BZ 335) will be compared with relatively weak
(bond strength “J”) phenolic resin bonds with sharp-ed-
ged grits (K+888) respectively sharp-edged and highly
friable grits (K+8821).
Using bronze bond in combination with conventio-
nal creep feed grinding of SSN leads to extremely high
normal forces because of grit flattening resulting from
high grit keeping forces. Analogous to I71 and due to the
highest grit splintering ability grinding with resinoid
wheel of type K+8821 does reduce the forces but worsen
the radial wheel wear (Fig. 6). Fig. 6 also shows that in
this case the values of the surface roughness R, are in-
dependent from the used bonding system.
With ultrasonic assistance a considerably decrease
of the grinding forces can be achieved. By using a bronze
bond of type BZ 335, the normal force can be reduced by
approximately 80 %, but the radial wheel wear increases
from 4 pm to 10 pm. In this case it is to be assumed that
the ultrasonic vibration in combination with the bond
characteristics lead to a partially failure of the bond.
This means cracks and fractures inside the bronze bond
as well as grit pullout. That is why the surface rough-
ness also deteriorates.
Alltogether the best results will be obtained by
using a phenolic resin bond type K+888. In contrast to
the bond of type K+8821, the grits are less friable so that
the portion of grit splintering is decreased. Hence fol-
lows approximately the same reduction in process forces
and the same surface roughness, but the lowest wheel
wear (as depicted in Fig. 5 and 6).

Grinding wheel: D126 . . . C50

Coolant: Solution 4 %; p = 5 bar
Grinding method: Down-cut
v, = 35 m/s Q’, = 5 mm”/mms
vfi = 300 mm/min VW = 1175 mms/mm
a,=1 mm

a K+ 8821 JY
K+ 888 JY
@’ BZ 335

I
Fig. 5: Process forces for creep feed grinding dependent on the bonding system.
292 G. Spur, S.-E. Hall/Journal of Maierials Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293

Grinding wheel: D126...C50

Coolant: Solution 4 %; p = 5 bar
Grinding method: Down-cut
v, = 35 m/s Q’,.,, = 5 mms/mms
vft = 300 mm/min VW = 1175 mms/mm
a,=1 mm

Fig. 6: Surface finish and radial wheel wear for creep feed grinding dependent on the bonding system.

3.3 Influence of ultrasonics on the material removal

rate at face grinding Di 26 BZ 335 C75,
016x2mm,A=66mm2

As for conventional face grinding and ultrasonic

machining the parameters such as rotational speed, con-
tact pressure and amplitude play an important role for
ultrasonic assisted face grinding. Fig. 7 shows the ma-
terial removal rate for the machining of alumina with an
amplitude of 5 = 13 pm and different contact pressures
and rotational speeds of the tool.
The increase in rotational speed from n = 1000 to
5000 min-l at constant contact pressure and amplitude
leads to an increase in the resulting material removal
c
rate. The increase in contact pressure also leads to an 3 ,m3
increase in material removal rate for same rotational $ min
P
speed and amplitude. E 900
According to CARTSBURG [lo], the following ma-
600
terial removal mechanisms are valid for ultrasonic as-
sisted face grinding: 300

0
. Pulse type engagement of the grit with the work 1000 2500 3000 5000

material induces microcracks leading to trans- and number of revolutions n in min.’

intercrystalline grain cracks as well as the forma- I-

tion of a crack zone. Fig. 7: Material removal rate during ultrasonic assis-
ted face grinding.
 G. Spur, S.-E. Hall/Journal
. Micro scratching by the grit causes lateral cracks
inside the crack zone.
. Material concentration and microplastic deforma-
tions because of inner friction as well as of forma-
tion of residual stresses.
Analogous to [lo], the increase in material removal
rate for increased rotational speed can be due to increa-
sed cutting speed. The portion of material removal due
to lateral cracks increases because of increased scratch
lengths per grit engagement. Additionally, the creation
of microcracks is supported by fact that grits strike the
work surface with higher kinetic energy.
Besides the increase of rotational speed, higher contact
pressures have also a positive effect on the material
removal rate for ultrasonic assisted face grinding. This
is probably due to longer and effective contact between
the grit and the workpiece. During one oscillation, the
grit strikes earlier on the work surface and move away
comparatively later for increased contact pressure.
Because of the longer pulse duration, the induced cracks
lead to an increase in material removal rate.
In contrast to this, the influence of the amplitude
on the material removal rate is not uniform. At a low ro-
tational speed of n = 1000 min-1 (this corresponds to an
average cutting speed of v,, - 44 mlmin) the material
removal rate increases with the amplitude, but the rela-
tions partially change at higher rotational speeds as a
function of the contact pressure. For explanation the ki-
netic energy needs to be inspected in more detail. The
kinetic energy of the grinding tool depends on the veloci-
ty, which is a function of time and is maximum at
tmax
,k.~=k.~
2 2.f
with k = 0, 1, 2, 3, .. . and f := frequency. At maxi-
mum t,,,, the velocity is determined as
V max =27cJ~
with r := tool radius, 5 := amplitude and
n := number of revolutions.
For a constant diameter d = 2r and a constant h-e-
quency f the velocity v,,, is determined by the number
of revolutions n and the amplitude 5.
An increase in contact pressure leads to longer
pulse duration with relatively high kinetic energy - pro-
bably leading to instabilities during the machining
process and subsequently to a decrease of the material
removal rate. It was also observed that a contact pres-
sure greater than pPAD = 2 N/mm2 cause chatter during
of Materials Processing Technology 62 (1996) 287-293 293
the process resulting in a catastrophic tool failure. For
more detailed explanation of the results observed during
this study, further research is being carried out.
4. Summary
For ceramic materials, ultrasonic assisted grinding
can be applied as an efficient production technology. The
ultrasonic assisted creep feed grinding provides enor-
mously reduced normal forces at slightly increased
wheel wear and surface roughness. For the production of
holes and other complex contours, ultrasonic assisted
face grinding will be very efficient compared to that of
ultrasonic machining. Future study will include the op-
timization of the tool, the process parameters and
machine system along with a detailed analysis of mate-
rial removal mechanisms.
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