Bed thickness and particle size distribution in three-body abrasion

Abstract

Three-body abrasion is an important abrasive process in the surface finishing of ceramics and glasses. Generally it is assumed that material removal is achieved by rolling (indenting) particles. In this study, the removal rate of glass has been determined using SiC slurry as the abrasive and Cu as counter material. For large abrasive particle sizes the removal rate remains constant with time, while for small abrasive grain sizes it decreases. This is attributed to fracture and blunting of the abrasive particles. Displacement measurements revealed a decreasing ratio of bed thickness and mean abrasive particle size with particle size. The results are related to the particle size distributions of the abrasive powders used. On the basis of the particle size distributions, it can be concluded that the actual particle size distribution between workpiece and backing plate is different from the distribution of the slurry not lodged between both plates.