Ultra precision grinding of spherical convex surfaces on combination brittle materials using resin and metal bond cup wheels

This paper reports on a parametric investigation on ultra precision grinding of combination materials of zirconia and silica. Rotational grinding was adopted for the generation of spherical convex surfaces using metal and resin bonded cup wheels. The wheels have grit sizes ranging from 4 to 20 mum. A simplified geometrical model was used to analyse the effects of wheel wear on ground dimensional accuracy. Besides, a new truing and dressing technique of the cup wheel using loose abrasives was introduced. This new truing and dressing technique enables the precision profile truing of cup wheels. With the well prepared cup wheel, high form accuracy (average PV similar to0.25 mum) with mirror/near-mirror surface finish for silica and zirconia was achieved. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.