Surface micro-morphology model involved in grinding of GaN crystals driven by strain-rate and abrasive coupling effects

The complexity of the interaction between the workpiece and abrasives, the characterisation difficulty of the strain-rate effect, and the analytical difficulty of brittle-ductile coexistence removal pose significant challenges in surface micro-morphology modelling of brittle-solid grinding. To overcome these bottlenecks, a theoretical model of the normal scratching force driven by the strain-rate effect was developed to verify the strain-rate sensitivity coefficients of gallium nitride (GaN) crystals. Impact scratching tests with a single grit further emphasised that the brittle-to-ductile transition and subsurface damage behaviour of GaN crystals exhibited a distinct strain-rate dependence. Subsequently, a theoretical model of the surface micro-morphology involved in the grinding of GaN crystals was developed by comprehensively considering the strain rate, abrasive coupling effect, time evolution, abrasive randomness, and elastic-to-plastic and brittle-to-ductile transition depths. The simulated results of the model agreed well with the experimental results, with an average error of <10 %. The model indicated that the ground surface micro-morphology and roughness were insensitive to variations in the grinding depth. Under the allowable conditions of the grinder stiffness and dynamic balance, appropriately increasing the wheel speed and grinding depth, decreasing the feed speed, and refining the abrasive size could effectively improve the proportion of ductile removal during the grinding of brittle solids. The results not only enhance the understanding of the abrasive coupling effect on surface micro-morphological evolution, material removal, and damage accumulation, but also provide theoretical guidance for the parameter optimisation involved in the grinding of brittle solids.