Numerical Investigation on the Effects of Grain Size and Grinding Depth on Nano-Grinding of Cadmium Telluride Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is known as an important semiconductor material with favorable physical properties. However, as a soft-brittle material, the fabrication of high-quality surfaces on CdTe is quite challenging. To improve the fundamental understanding of the nanoscale deformation mechanisms of CdTe, in this paper, MD simulation was performed to explore the nano-grinding process of CdTe with consideration of the effects of grain size and grinding depth. The simulation results indicate that during nano-grinding, the dominant grinding mechanism could switch from elastic deformation to ploughing, and then cutting as the grinding depth increases. It was observed that the critical relative grain sharpness (RGS) for the transition from ploughing to cutting is greatly influenced by the grain size. Furthermore, as the grinding depth increases, the dominant subsurface damage mechanism could switch from surface friction into slip motion along the <110> directions. Meanwhile, as the grain size increases, less friction-induced damage is generated in the subsurface workpiece, and more dislocations are formed near the machined groove. Moreover, regardless of the grain size, it was observed that the generation of dislocation is more apparent as the dominant grinding mechanism becomes ploughing and cutting.

Deep Learning-Based Subsurface Damage Localization Using Full-Field Surface Strains

Structures in their service life are often damaged as a result of aging or extreme events such as earthquakes or storms. It is essential to detect damage in a timely fashion to ensure the safe operation of the structure. If left unchecked, subsurface damage (SSD) can cause significant internal damage and may result in premature structural failure. In this study, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) has been developed for SSD detection using surface strain measurements. The adopted network architecture is capable of pixel-level image segmentation, that is, it classifies each location of strain measurement as damaged or undamaged. The CNN which is fed full-field strain measurements as an input image of size 256 × 256 projects the SSD onto an output image of the same size. The data for network training is generated by numerical simulation of aluminum bars with different damage scenarios, including single damage and double damage cases at a random location, direction, length, and thickness. The trained network achieves an Intersection over Union (IoU) score of 0.790 for the validation set and 0.794 for the testing set. To check the applicability of the trained network on materials other than aluminum, testing is performed on a numerically generated steel dataset. The IoU score is 0.793, the same as the aluminum dataset, affirming the network's capability to apply to materials exhibiting a similar stress-strain relationship. To check the generalization potential of the network, it is tested on triple damage cases; the IoU score is found to be 0.764, suggesting that the network works well for unseen damage patterns as well. The network was also found to provide accurate predictions for real experimental data obtained from Strain Sensing Smart Skin (S4). This proves the efficacy of the network to work in real-life scenarios utilizing the full potential of the novel full-field strain sensing methods such as S4. The performance of the proposed network affirms that it can be used as a non-destructive testing method for subsurface crack detection and localization.

Shoulder Damage Model and Its Application for Single Point Diamond Machining of ZnSe Crystal

The damaging of ZnSe crystal has a significant impact on its service performance and life. Based on the specific cutting energies for brittle and ductile mode machining, a model is proposed to evaluate the damage depth in the shoulder region of ZnSe crystal during single point diamond machining. The model considers the brittle-ductile transition and spring back of ZnSe crystal. To verify the model, the elastic modulus, hardness, spring back, and friction coefficient of ZnSe crystal are measured by nanoindentation and nanoscratch tests, and its critical undeformed chip thickness is obtained by spiral scratching. Meanwhile, orthogonal cutting experiments are conducted to obtain the different shoulder regions and cutting surfaces. The shoulder damage depth is analyzed, indicating that the effect of the feed on the damage depth at a high cutting depth is stronger than that at a low one. The model is verified to be effective with an average relative error of less than 7%. Then, the model is used to calculate the critical processing parameters and achieve a smooth ZnSe surface with a roughness Sa = 1.0 nm. The model is also extended to efficiently predict the bound of the subsurface damage depth of a cutting surface. The research would be useful for the evaluation of surface and subsurface damages during the ultra-precision machining of ZnSe crystal.

Theoretical Modeling and Experimental Analysis of Single-Particle Erosion Mechanism of Optical Glass

The study of the single-particle erosion mechanism is essential to understand the material removal mechanism in the non-contact polishing process and ultimately ensure the high-efficiency, non-damage, and ultra-smooth processing of optical glass. In this study, the theoretical model of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is established to reveal the dynamic removal process of a single particle impacting the optical glass. The single-particle erosion mechanisms, which include ductile-brittle transition, crack initiation, and propagation, are discussed in detail through theoretical simulation. A series of particle impact experiments are designed to validate the correctness of the SPH model. The experimental data show good agreement with the simulation results in terms of the depth and width of the eroded craters. Thereafter, the SPH simulation is conducted by studying the effect of various impact parameters, such as impact speed, impact angle, and abrasive diameter, on the material removal process. With the gradual increase of impact velocity and particle size, the material removal mode changes from plastic removal to brittle removal. Although the large impact velocity and particle size increase the material removal rate, they lead to the occurrence of brittle removal and reduce the surface and sub-surface quality. When the impact angle is between 45° and 75°, the material removal rate is the largest, and the increase of the material removal rate does not cause damage to the subsurface layer of the material.

Experimental Study on Variation of Surface Roughness and Q Factors of Fused Silica Cylindrical Resonators with Different Grinding Speeds

For the axisymmetric shell resonator gyroscopes, the quality factor (Q factor) of the resonator is one of the core parameters limiting their performances. Surface loss is one of the dominating losses, which is related to the subsurface damage (SSD) that is influenced by the grinding parameters. This paper experimentally studies the surface roughness and Q factor variation of six resonators ground by three different grinding speeds. The results suggest that the removal of the SSD cannot improve the Q factor continuously, and the variation of surface roughness is not the dominant reason to affect the Q factor. The measurement results indicate that an appropriate increase in the grinding speed can significantly improve the surface quality and Q factor. This study also demonstrates that a 20 million Q factor for fused silica cylindrical resonators is achievable using appropriate manufacturing processes combined with post-processing etching, which offers possibilities for developing high-precision and low-cost cylindrical resonator gyroscopes.

Molecular Dynamic Investigation of the Anisotropic Response of Aluminum Surface by Ions Beam Sputtering

Aluminum optics are widely used in modern optical systems because of their high specific stiffness and high reflectance. With the applied optical frequency band moving to visible, traditional processing technology cannot meet the processing precision. Ion beam sputtering (IBS) provides a highly deterministic technology for high-precision aluminum optics fabrication. However, the surface quality is deteriorated after IBS. The interaction between the bombard atoms and the surface morphology evolution mechanism are not clear, and systematic research is needed. Thus, in this paper, the IBS process for single crystal aluminum with different crystallographic orientations are studied by the molecular dynamics method. The ion beam sputter process is firstly demonstrated. Then, the variation of sputter yield of the three crystal faces is analyzed. The sputter yield difference of different crystal surfaces causes the appearance of the relief structure. Then, the gravel structure generates on the single crystal surfaces and dominates the morphology evolution. The state of the atom diffusion of the specific crystal surfaces will determine the form of the gravel structure. Furthermore, the form and distribution of subsurface damage and stress distribution of three different crystal surfaces are analyzed. Although there are great differences in defect distribution, no stress concentration was found in three workpieces, which verifies that the ion beam sputter is a stress-free machining method. The process of IBS and the mechanism of morphology evolution of aluminum are revealed. The regularity and mechanism will provide a guidance for the application of IBS in aluminum optics manufacture fields.

The Influence of Crystal Orientation on Subsurface Damage of Mono-Crystalline Silicon by Bound-Abrasive Grinding

Subsurface damage (SSD) produced in a grinding process will affect the performance and operational duration of single-crystal silicon. In order to reduce the subsurface damage depth generated during the grinding process by adjusting the process parameters (added), experiments were designed to investigate the influence of machining factors on SSD. This included crystal orientation, diamond grit size in the grinding wheel, peripheral speed of the grinding wheel, and feeding with the intention to optimize the parameters affecting SSD. Compared with isotropic materials such as glass, we considered the impact of grinding along different crystal directions <100> and <110> on subsurface damage depth (added). The Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) spot technique was used to detect the depth of SSD. The results showed that the depth of SSD in silicon increased with the size of diamond grit. SSD can be reduced by either increasing the peripheral speed of the grinding wheel or decreasing the feeding rate of the grinding wheel in the <100> crystal orientation, if the same size of diamond grit was employed. In addition, we proposed a modified model around surface roughness and subsurface crack depth, which considered plastic and brittle deformation mechanisms and material properties of different crystal orientations. When the surface roughness (R_Z) exceeded the brittle-plastic transition’s critical value R_ZC (R_ZC<100> > 1.5 μm, R_ZC<110> > 0.8 μm), cracks appeared on the subsurface. The experimental results were consistent with the predicted model, which could be used to predict the subsurface cracks by measuring the surface roughness. However, the model only gives the approximate range of subsurface defects, such as dislocations. The morphology and precise depth of plastic deformation subsurface defects, such as dislocations generated in the fine grinding stage, needed to be inspected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which were further studied.

Tomography of 3D-Printed Lattice Structured Aluminum-Silicon Alloy and Its Deformation

Additive manufactured light components are desirable for airspace and automobile applications where failure resistance under contact is important. To date, understanding the nature of subsurface damage in contact is still lacking. In this research, we investigated 3D-printed aluminum-silicon (Al-Si) alloys in the lattice structure under a rolling contact condition. Using the microtomography technique, we were able to construct a 3D image of the lattice structure being plastically deformed. Finite element analysis was conducted about the strain and stress on struts of different dimensions. Results showed that morphology dominated the deformation. The significant factors affecting the deformation were the strut aspect ratio, and their relative diameter. When the aspect ratio of a strut is smaller than 0.5, the plastic deformation is distributed in the subsurface region and when it is larger than 0.5, the deformation concentrates on the top layer of struts. This research indicates that the dimensional parameters of lattice structures can be designed for optimization to achieve higher resistance to deformation.

Molecular Dynamics Study of the Effect of Abrasive Grains Orientation and Spacing during Nanogrinding

Grinding at the nanometric level can be efficiently employed for the creation of surfaces with ultrahigh precision by removing a few atomic layers from the substrate. However, since measurements at this level are rather difficult, numerical investigation can be conducted in order to reveal the mechanisms of material removal during nanogrinding. In the present study, a Molecular Dynamics model with multiple abrasive grains is developed in order to determine the effect of spacing between the adjacent rows of abrasive grains and the effect of the rake angle of the abrasive grains on the grinding forces and temperatures, ground surface, and chip formation and also, subsurface damage of the substrate. Findings indicate that nanogrinding with abrasive grains situated in adjacent rows with spacing of 1 Å leads directly to a flat surface and the amount of material remaining between the rows of grains remains minimal for spacing values up to 5 Å. Moreover, higher negative rake angle of the grains leads to higher grinding forces and friction coefficient values over 1.0 for angles larger than -40°. At the same time, chip formation is suppressed and plastic deformation increases with larger negative rake angles, due to higher compressive action of the abrasive grains.

Effect of Stress Wave between Adjacent Asperities Interaction on Subsurface Damage of Optical Glass in Precision Grinding

The interaction between adjacent asperities is a typical characteristic of the grinding process and plays an important role in the material removal mechanism. Therefore, in order to systematically investigate the formation mechanism of the subsurface damage, a precision grinding contact model between the diamond particle and optical glass with adjacent asperities is proposed in our research. The initiation and propagation mechanism of median/lateral cracks under residual stress, the propagation rules of the stress waves on the subsurface, and the interaction between the subsurface damage under stress superposition effect are fully investigated by a theoretical analysis and finite element simulation. The simulation results of the precision grinding model are verified by experiments, which show that the proposed numerical analysis model is reasonable and the finite element analysis process is feasible.

Subsurface Damage in Polishing Process of Silicon Carbide Ceramic

Subsurface damage (SSD) in the polishing process of silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic presents one of the most significant challenges for practical applications. In this study, the theoretical models of SSD depth are established on the basis of the material removal mechanism and indentation fracture mechanics in the SiC ceramic polishing process. In addition, the three-dimensional (3D) models of single grit polishing are also developed by using the finite element simulation; thereby, the dynamic effects of different process parameters on SSD depth are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the material removal was mainly in brittle mode when the cutting depth was larger than the critical depth of the brittle material. The SSD depth increased as the polishing depth and abrasive grain size increased, and decreased with respect to the increase in polishing speed. The experimental results suggested a good agreement with the theoretical simulation results in terms of SSD depth as a function of polishing depth, spindle speed, and abrasive grain size. This study provides a mechanistic insight into the dependence of SSD on key operational parameters in the polishing process of SiC ceramic.