Polishing and honing processes: An investigation of the thermal properties of mixtures of polyborosiloxane and silicon carbide abrasive

The passage of an ultrasonic wave through a mixture of polyborosiloxane and silicon carbide abrasive, when used in a honing process, causes heating due to the attenuation of the said wave. This is critical to the honing process since the temperature in the components being treated must be limited to about 70 degrees C. A numerical model of the heat generation and transfer processes in the polishing medium is being formulated, which requires knowledge of the thermophysical properties of the mixture. This investigation concentrates on the experimental determination of thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and surface heat transfer coefficient for various mixtures of polyborosiloxane and silicon carbide abrasive. Theoretical, semi-empirical and empirical models are derived for the variation of these thermal properties as functions of both material composition and temperature.