Phase transformation in high-speed cylindrical grinding of SiC and its effects on residual stresses

Recently, the polytype transformation of SIC has been studied at temperatures over 2000 K or at high pressures. However, there are no theoretical or experimental works exploring phase transformation during grinding process of SIC to date. In this work, the grinding characteristics such as temperature rise, high dynamic pressure and shock effect are compared with conditions for phase transition. For the first time, X-ray diffraction analysis of ground SIC under different machining conditions reveals that phase transition in high-speed cylindrical grinding occurs and strongly affects the residual stresses on the surface layer. Furthermore, a way to reduce the residual stresses by a combination of the elevated grinding wheel velocity and the higher workpiece speed is proposed. (C) 2012 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.