Experimental investigations of grinding forces in elliptical ultrasonic assisted grinding (EUAG) of monocrystal sapphire

Grinding forces characteristics in elliptical ultrasonic assisted grinding (EUAG) of sapphire are investigated experimentally. The EUAG is a new grinding method proposed by the present authors in which an elliptical ultrasonic vibration is imposed on the workpiece by using an elliptical ultrasonic vibrator. In this paper, grinding experiments under the presence/absence of ultrasonic vibration assistance are performed. The effects of the vibration amplitude and grinding parameters such as the depth of cut, the grinding wheel speed on the grinding forces, grinding force ratio F_n/F_t are clarified. The obtained conclusions are as follows: the grinding forces during EUAG lowers to 50% and grinding forces ratio becomes reduced by 33% compared that during conventional grinding (CG); the grinding forces during EUAG have the less variation rate than those during CG as grinding parameters change; higher grinding wheel speed causes the larger grinding forces in CG, but has little effect on the variation of grinding forces in EUAG. By using EUAG method, the grinding forces and force ratio are greatly decreased, and surface quality is better, meaning that grindability of sapphire material is improved.