Grinding characteristics of hard and brittle materials by fine grain lapping wheels with ELID

ELID-lap grinding is a constant pressure grinding method which produces less surface roughness and better flatness than other grinding systems. Silicon, tungsten carbide and a complex material composed of silicon and tungsten carbide were ground by ELID-lap grinding using the #1200,#4000 and #8000CIFB-D wheels, and the effects of mesh number on the grinding characteristics of these materials were studied. Mirror surface finish could be obtained without any irregularities. In the case of silicon, the brittle-ductile transition was performed using wheels over #8000 in the SEM observations. For tungsten carbide, that transition was performed using wheels over #4000. When silicon was ground together with tungsten carbide, the surface roughness of silicon improved, in comparison with those by grinding silicon alone. In this case,the brittle -ductile transition was performed using wheels over #4000.