The mechanisms of high-efficiency grinding for micro/meso-structural arrays on ceramic moulds through an innovative wheel truing technology

Abstract The precision fabrication of ceramic moulds for the mass-production of micro/meso-structural arrays places a tremendous challenge to the manufacturing industry. This work aims to reveal the physics behind the processes so as to address this technological challenge. A new method for texturing the diamond grinding wheel surface with a micro-abrasive waterjet is proposed for highly efficient form-grinding of ceramic moulds into the required micro/meso-structural surfaces. It shows that this technology provides some unique advantages in improving the sharpness and geometrical accuracy of the grinding wheels. The mechanisms about material removal and texture formation in grinding wheel truing are investigated to enable the precise control of micro/meso-structure generation on the grinding wheel. A theoretical model is established to study the effect of grinding wheel surface micro/meso-textures and grain trajectory on the quality of the ground mould surface and reveal the reflection mechanism of the ground marks on the mould surface. Furthermore, an integrated rough-fine grinding strategy is proposed which is shown to significantly increase the grinding efficiency by 15–24 times. It is found that ductile domain grinding of ceramic moulds to achieve the required contour profile of 6.7 μm PV accuracy and a surface roughness Ra of less than 40 nm can be achieved.