The grinding surface characteristics and evaluation of particle-reinforced aluminum silicon carbide

Abstract The changes in grinding parameters have direct influences on the characteristics of surface morphology of workpieces during grinding. On the basis of the application of particle-reinforced aluminum silicon carbide (SiCp/Al), this paper analyzes the surface morphology of SiCp/Al after being ground by an electroplated diamond-grinding wheel by integrating studies on grinding processes. The typical morphology of grinding surfaces of SiCp/Al is elaborated, and the general principles of evaluating the grinding surfaces of particle-reinforced SiCp/Al are summarized by considering the surface morphology and formation mechanism. Comparison is made on the surface morphology between ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding and traditional grinding. It indicates that the surface morphology can be evaluated in terms of the root mean square deviation of three-dimensional profiles, crushing ratio, and fractal dimension. Studies show that the surface morphology of workpieces after ultrasonic-assisted vibration grinding is better than that of the traditional machining.