A method for reducing tool wear in a polishing process

A method for reducing tool wear in a polishing process is preliminarily proposed in this study. This method is to adjust the adhesive conditions at the interface between particle and tool or particle and work so that the wear rate of tool can be reduced. The simulations indicated that any change of the adhesive strength at these interfaces might significantly alter the wear rate of tool. For instance, for a given adhesion at particle-tool interface, a decrease of adhesion at particle-work interface would always decrease the wear rate of tool, when adhesive strengths at particle-tool interface was larger than that at particle-work interface. Further, an increase of particle size would decrease the wear rates ratio between tool and work if the relative increment of adhesion at particle-tool interface is larger than that at particle-work interface. The experimental study confirmed that the wear rate of tool could be effectively reduced based on the proposed method. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.